LIBRARY jF CON GRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE PAPER WHEEL, 



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CLEBURNE, TEXAS. 



('(>NTATXIN(i. ABOUT 250 PAOES, PRINTED 'IN CLEAR OPEN TYPE 
ON (JOOi) PAPER, NEATLY BOUND IN CLOTTT WITTT TITLE 
IN GOLD ON FRONT AND BACK COYER, INCLU- 
DIN(^TIIE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS, YIZ : 
I<:TERNITV UNDIVIDED, CREATION, TIME, THIS WORLD CREATED 
FOR MAN, man's RELATION TO NATURE, TIME AND ETER- 
NITY, man's RELATION TO EYIL, MAN LOST. MAN 
REDEEMED, DIVINITY OF CHRIST, THE 
HOLY SPIRIT, THE NEW BIRTH, 
RESURRECTION. 



^ith Introduction and Sio^raphical Sbtoh of tli 



CLEBURNE, TEXAS: 
(^TRONICLE STEAM BOOK AND JOB OFFICE 

1888. 




^■^5^ 



INTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 
1888, BY J. F. 6RUBBS. 
IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. D. (, 






sS^^c 



DEDICATION 



To the honest, sincere and candid of every 
creed, family, tribe, tongue and nation, this little 
book is affectionately inscribed by 

The Author. 



PREFACE. 



The Subjects embraced in this volume liave 
been discussed by the writer in Bell, Falls, McLen- 
nan, Coryell, Hamilton, Bosque, Hill, Johnson, 
Somerville, Lamar and Palo Pinto Counties. It is 
true they have not been presented and treated ex- 
actly alike in each instance, but sustained by nearly 
the same arguments. Many of my friends from 
different parts of the Country requested me to 
publish -a book containing these discourses, which 
I had intended, but was not quite ready then, and 
the only apology I now offer to the public is, I fear 
that the work is too hastily prepared. I trujrt 
therefore that the good things ( if any ) may be 
appreciated while the faults and mistakes may 
with the same kind consideration be excused. In 
presenting to the public this little volume we are 
aware that it will be severely criticised by what 
the world calls orthodoxy, but we feel assured 
that the main arguments will be sustained by the 
thinking portion of the community at large. If, 
however, the education and elevation of the race, 
morally and intellectually, shall be facilitated by 
this effort, we shall feel more than compensated. 

The Author. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The title of this work is suggested by two great 
facts, viz: 

1. The age in which we live is strictly a "pa- 
per age/' an age in which the people are being ed- 
ucated chiefly through the press; an age in which 
manufacturers are converting from paper almost 
all the machinery in operation in the United 
States and elsewhere, also a great deal of the 
wearing apparel is of paper, our buckets, rails on 
our systems of Ry. besides many other useful ap- 
pliances of the same article. 

2, The idea of wheel is based upon the vision 
of Ezekiel as recorded in the tenth chapter; where 
it is represented as four wheels and the wheels 
were so constructed as to contain a wheel in the 
midst of the w4ieel. The four wheels which Eze- 
kiel saw I understand to be the four dispensations 
including the present and the three preceding, 
viz: Edenic, (see diagram at top) Patriarchal, 
Jewish and the present Christian dispensation. 
Ezekiel saw these until they were with the cheru- 
bim received out of his sight. This I understand 
to refer to the end of the present dispensation 
and the resurrection of the dead. 



Tlie iK^xt or fifth dispoiisatioii was not revealed 
at that time, but having seen these four already 
mentioned, and having seen a ''wheel within a 
wheel." we may safely conclude tliat according to 
our diagram ; as the larger and outer circle repre- 
sents eternity, so the smaller circles represent the 
the evolution of the various divisions of time, un- 
folding from this larger outer circle. It pleased 
God to reserve to a later period of time, and other 
inspired men to reveal the other dispensations of 
time. After Jesus entered into the grave and 
there triumphed over death and its terrors, he 
could place before the minds of human intelli- 
gences the proposition of a future existence. He 
demonstrated it in his own case, having lived here 
some forty days after he was raised from the dead. 
Thus demonstrating a future existence, and by 
his ascension into heaven, his mediatorial reign at 
the right hand of God, he has demonstrated the 
fact that there is a higher life beyond the resur- 
rection. 

And further more as the adjustment of the 
wrongs committed in this life are not made here, 
and since they are not satisfied in death, (for all 
die) and since the ''restitution of all things spoken 
by the mouths of the prophets,,' etc. necessarily re- 
quires a resurrection from the dead to accomplish 



it, wo therefore conclude tliat as the joy and lia[)- 
piness of the rigliteous are to be eternal b(H;ans(i 
they did right, the punishment of the wicked 
must be equal in duration under similar circum- 
stances on account of their unrighteousness. Con- 
cerning the patriarchal dynasties, we did not 
intend the arguments as conclusive in any sense 
but merely suggestive. We expect however to de- 
velop this subject in The Index Wheel, and hope 
that all who are at all interested in this question 
w^ill become subscribers at once, as we expect to 
begin very soon a series of articles on this subjec^t 
which will continue througti the entire year. 

The careful reader will observe a few mistakes 
which in our haste and rush of business we over- 
looked. Upon the whole we are conscious of the 
imperfection of the work, but trust it may receive 
an impartial reading from a true and generous 
public. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

: ,^ 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. page 

^ 

Frontispiece. Portrajt of the Author .1 

Introduction II 

Brief Sketch of the author 1-25 

The Paper Wheel 2i> 

CHAPTER L 
Eternity Undivided 27-37 

CHAPTER IL 
Creation :-)<S— tlJ 

CHAPTER III. 
Time 5(m;1 

chaptp:r IV. 

This World Created For Man 62-72 

CHAPTER V. 
Man's Relation To Nature. Tume And Eternity. . .. 73-S4 

CHAPTER VI. 
Man's Relation To God And Spirits 85-9.^ 

CHAPTER VII. 
Man's Relation To Evil 99-108 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Man Lost 109-121 

CHAPTER IX. 
Man Redeemed 122-187 

CHAPTER X. 

Divinity Of Christ 1 3S-1 5(j 

CHAPTER XL 
The Holy Spirit . * 1 57-1 79 

CHAPTER XII. 
The New Birth 180-197 

CHAPTER XIIL 
The Establishmet Of The Church 198-21 .^ 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Resurrection 219-233 



R BRIEF SKETCH OF THE SUTHOR, 



fHE subject of tliis sketch was born on the first 
day of January, 1853. My parents were natives 
of Kentucky, and were born and reared in Cald- 
well county, where they resided until two years 
since, when my father died. My mother still occu- 
pies the old homestead. It is with a good deal of 
pride that I point back to the names of Grubbs and 
Fovrler (my mother was a Fowler) for generations 
and say that they have not been stained with an 
ignoble deed, so far as my knowledge extends. I 
am the second son of my father's last marriage. 
My father was not what the world would style a 
rich man by any means, but was surrounded by 
plenty, and it was not until my tenth year (1863) 
that I was made to realize what it was to want for 
anything. But the war, with all of its concomi- 
tant evils was raging in Kentucky at that time, 
and the devastation and suffering consequent upon 
such a war rendered my father unable to continue 
the rather luxurious life we had previously enjoyed. 
The war being ended, my father had nothing- 
left him but about five hundred acres of land — 
three hundred in cultivation and the rest in tim- 



2 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

ber, or old fields long since considered too poor 
to cultivate. 

I believe the only stock left my father by the 
soldiers of both armies, was one very poor old mare, 
and one old mule. They would have taken them, 
but on close examination they were pronounced 
"too thin." 

Our family being very large and my father so 
reduced in finances, with so much open land with 
fences to rebuild, hired labor being so very dear, 
it would have been unreasonable to expect more 
than a common-school education, and to say that 
his was an exceptional case would misrepresent it, 
so you see our neighbors had no advantage over 
us in this respect. 

My father's residence was in, and his plantation 
surrounded the village called Friendship, a beauti- 
ful village situated eight miles from Princeton, 
twenty miles from Hopkinsville, surrounded by 
fair land and a thrifty people, it might have grown 
to be a tolerably large town, but for the construc- 
tion of the E. <fe P. R. R, which missed it about 
three miles. 

Manifesting very early in life a disposition to 
study, my father resolved to give me the best edu- 
cation his now limited means would allow. Ac- 
cordingly I was sent to the public schools presided 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 3 

over by, not the best teachers in the world, but 
who showed me a great deal of kindness, which I 
trust I shall ever remember. 

SCHOOL-BOY DAYS. 
Miss Ellen Linebaugh was my first teacher ; she 
allowed me to play the first day, and the second I 
became sleepy, and while enjoying a quiet nap on 
a rude bench in the school-room, I ^as suddenly 
aroused from my slumbers by the loud rap of a 
switch on the wall near me ; in my fright I rolled 
off the bench on the floor. This caused the entire 
school such laughter that they became for a time 
almost unmanageable. In my confusion and ex- 
citement I signified that I wanted to go home; this 
was granted, but I never returned again. 

Prof. Y. J. Means, a venerable, dignified gentle- 
man and scholar, was my second teacher ; he was 
engaged to teach a session of five months, the 
greater part of which I enjoyed. It was during this 
term I received the only punishment in the way 
of whipping I ever received at school, which con- 
sisted of three light strokes on the shoulders with 
a small rod. 

My third teacher was Miss Jennie Hobbs. She 
was very kind and indulgent, and much beloved 
by all her pupils. I do not think I made much 



4 A BKIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

progress during this session. One thing, however, 
I do remember to have learned, and that was, that 
I fell desperately in love with some very pretty 
girls about my age, but this was unavailing, for 
the girls became women before I became a man ; 
two of these girls have long since crossed the river 
of death. They were just budding into woman- 
hood, so tender, loving and beautiful, to be claimed 
as a victim by the king of terrors and terror of 
kings. The others are married and have several 
grown-up children. 

R. G. Glass was my fourth teacher. This was a 
five months session, three of which I attended. 
Mr. G., though not so well educated, conducted his 
school about as successfully as others much farther 
advanced. This session was celebrated for the 
great number of large boys in attendance, only 
three of whom ( I believe) have died ; most of the 
others have scattered over the United States, and 
several have become great and good men. 

My fifth teacher was Mr. S. C. Lillie, who was a 
very competent man. 1 remember also to have 
striven very hard during this session ; I suppose, 
however, this was due mainly to the fact that a 
prize was offered, which I won. Many of the boys 
who struggled with me during this term are now 
sleeping their last long sleep, and when I think of 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR, 5 

the many happy hours we have spent together, 
and the strong ties that bound us together then, 
it makes me sad to think I have not thought of 
them more frequently. 

Miss Ann Meadows was my sixth teacher. She 
was kind, earnest and industrious, and I suppose 
that I should say that a great deal of the civility 
I now possess should be ascribed to her efforts 
during this term. One thing more I will mention 
as having transpired at this particular term, the 
fact that I fell in love again, but this time I was 
successful, for the same dimpled hands that gath- 
ered bouquets for me then, have been engaged in 
helping me to make a living for thirteen years. I 
would say more about her, but she objects. 

Mr. Templeton Mitchusson was my seventh 
teacher. This term lasted five months, but my 
duties at home prevented me from receiving the 
full benefits of this term. Mr. M. was a very genial 
gentleman, and doubtless advanced the pupils very 
rapidly ; as for me, I learned very little. 

Mr. S. C. Lillie became our teacher again in an- 
other five months' session. In this session we all 
strove te excell each other in the acquisition of 
knowledge. 

Prof. P. M. Thurmond was my ninth teacher. 
He was very attentive to his duties, and strove 



b A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR* 

hard to do his whole duty. This term lasted ten 
months, and were it known just how many re- 
sponsible positions in the government and stations 
in the social world were filled by the students of 
this school, it would be a sufficient eulogy on Mr. 
Thurmond's efforts. He is now somewhere in 
Texas. We all loved him very much. I know if 
these lines should come under his observation he 
will pardon me for the liberty with which I have 
used his name, and should I never more see him, I 
shall still love and revere his memory. 

Mr. A. L. Dabney was my tenth, and last teacher. 
Though he was young, yet he was very competent. 
He was educated at Princeton, the present home 
of his parents. I understood a short time since 
that Mr. Dabney had gone to the Golden State. 

I have thus briefly referred to my school life to 
show that I have not had the advantages of many 
others who have troubled, or perhaps afflicted the 
world with a similar demand, viz.: "Will you read 
my book?" One other advantage, I think, is gained 
by this knowledge of my opportunities and advan- 
tages, and that is this : it will help the reader to 
pass over many faults and imperfections in this 
volume which would otherwise be inexcusable. 
Many freaks, pranks and incidents have been left 
out of this sketch which would have been enjoyed 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 7 

by some, but perhaps in the estimation of others 
would have been considered out of place. 

Taking the different sessions I have attended, 
and the sum is little more than two years. I have 
ever been fond of books, and the greater part of 
my life has been spent with my books, of which I 
have a very limited stock. I will next refer to 

MY RELiaiOUS CAREER. 

ft 

When about fifteen years of age I became in- 
terested in the religious services conducted at the 
school house by Elder Wm. Gregston. Many others 
also became " seekers " at the same time, who were 
more successful than I ; they professed conversion 
within a few days, while others with myself strug- 
gled on for many years before we could be induced 
to give up the search for religion and believe we 
had found it. Others had appeared so happy in 
the possession of this priceless gift that I too 
wanted just that joy, but was told by the minis- 
ters and leading members of the Baptist church 
(this religion prevailing there) that religion af- 
fected different persons differently. This idea, 
though new to me, was finally accepted. I thought, 
however, before "joining the church," I would se- 
lect among the several cases of conversions, one, 



8 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

which, when fully understood, would aid me 
greatly in arriving at a satisfactory knowledge of 
my duty. I thought I ought to select about the 
worst case in order to represent my case correctly. 
I finally chose Saul ; I found him a very bad 
man, and yet I thought his conversion very simple. 
After a close study of his case, I decided to call 
on the preacher and offer myself for baptism. The 
preacher told me that he had believed for some 
time that I "had religion," but I knew that I 
had not read where Annanias told Saul that he 
thought he had religion, but I waived all tech- 
nicalities and "joined" the Baptist church. Be- 
fore voting for me, as their custom is, the preacher 
stated that he knew many cases like mine, and 
had always received them, and although it was 
not regular, it might be the means of my salva- 
tion by taking me into the church, etc. They then 
"voted me in," a thing unknown in the Bible. 
This took place in my twentieth year. Thus you 
see I had been a "seeker" for about five years. 
Having afiiliated with the Baptists, I was brought 
up to a standard or Baptist doctrines, but I felt 
that I could not prove it true by the Bible. This 
gave me a good deal of trouble. My parents were 
Baptists, and almost all the friends I had were the 
same, and while everything seemed favorable, yet 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 9 

the unsettled and dissatisfied state of my mind 
made me feel miserable. 

I continued in the Baptist church for about 
three years — two years in Kentucky and one in 
Texas. On the 5th day of May, A. D. 1874, I left 
Kentucky. Bidding adieu to friends and home, I 
yielded myself into the hands of the railroad em- 
ployes, who conducted me safely to Texas. About 
one year after coming to Texas, I heard a few ser- 
mons delivered by that venerable Soldier of the 
Cross, Bro. W. T. Bush, of Salado, Bell county, 
Texas. I will also state that Bro. B. was assisted 
later on in the same meeting by Bro. W. K. Ham- 
blen of the same place. These men presented to 
me the truth as it is written in the Bible. I ac- 
cepted it, and the only fault I have to find with 
the teaching I received from these grand and good 
men is, that they did not tell me that I had not 
been scripturally baptized — a thing I afterward 
learned and submitted to, for which I will here 
give credit to Bro. A. McGary, editor of the " Firm 
Foundation," at Austin, Texas. It was by reading 
this paper that I was led to believe that the au- 
thority of the Baptist church was not recognized 
by the Bible. Bro. Bush has long since gone to 
his reward, but Bro. Hamblen is still living and 
wielding the Sword of the Spirit, and I dare say 



10 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

he joins me in the sentiment expressed above, viz.: 
that the Bible does not recognize Baptist authority 
in administering the ordinances of the Lord. He 
will also please pardon me for using his name as I 
have. 

A short time after I connected myself with the 
Christians, I was solicited by them, as I had been 
by the Baptists, to prepare myself for the ministry. 
While I was not altogether averse to the idea, yet 
I saw no reason to hurry into this matter ; I pre- 
ferred to wait awhile and become entirely familiar 
with all the Bible, but they persisted and finally 
I yielded. Accordingly, on the first Lord's day in 
June of A. D. 1887, I tried to preach 

MY FIRST SERMON. 

Of course everybody said I did well, but had my 
future been dependent on my feelings at that time 
I should have lost all hope of making a preacher 
of myself ; but these feelings gave way as the de- 
mand for preaching increased, and on the first 
Lord's day in January, A. D. 1878, 1 accepted an ap- 
pointment to preach at Moffatt, a village then of 
about two hundred inhabitants. I continued to 
preach here for nearly three years. In the mean- 
time I accepted calls from different congregations, 
all striving to impress me with the idea that I 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 11 

was preaching, and although I had been told from 
my earliest recollection that I would be a preacher, 
I still had grave doubts on the subject. 

I was never able to fully realize my own impor- 
tance as a preacher until I was placed in a situa- 
tion where I was forced to defend the faith against 
the doctrines and commandments of men. Not till 
then was I made to realize that I was a preacher. 

I will here mention the names of some of the 
brethren who were instrumental in inducing me 
to enter the ministry : Old Bro. Blackburn, of Bel- 
ton, who has gone to his reward, Bros. Bush and 
Hamblen, Bros. Wilson and Harvey Bates, Bro. C. 
W. Sewell, Jr., Bro. U. A. Young, and last but not 
least, Bro. Dr. W. L. Harrison of McGregor. I was 
aided greatly by these gentlemen in their conversa- 
tions and discussions of the various topics of re- 
ligion. Bro. J. L. Hutchinson aided me very much 
by his dignified manner and bearing, together with 
his wise counsel. In fact, when I think of all the 
assistance rendered me, I feel ashamed because I 
am not better, or more useful. 

I have been trying to preach about ten years, 
and have averaged, according to my diary, about 
two hundred and fifty discourses each year, mak- 
ing a total of a little over two thousand five hun- 
dred discourses. Have received into the church 



12 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

about three thousand persons, a good many of 
whom I should have baptized, but was led by older 
brethren to believe that just because they had 
been immersed they were all in the kingdom, I 
practiced the custom, and should these pages 
come under the observation of any whom I unau- 
thoritatively received, I beg you to go at once and 
heseripturallyhuried with your "Lord in baptism,'' 
having "the eyes of your understanding enlight- 
ned." Have been the humble instrument, I trust, 
in the hands of the Lord, in planting, or setting in 
order, eighteen congregations, besides reviving 
several that had starved almost to death for the 
want of a preacher, or discharge of duty. Have 
married, on an average, about ten couples annu- 
ally, making one hundred couples in all. Have 
traveled in the discharge of my ministerial duties 
an average of one thousand miles annually, bear- 
ing my own expenses, car fare, hotel bills, etc., 
often returning home with fewer dollars in my 
pocket than when I went away. 

Had I all the money that has been promised me 
by brethren I would not have to sit up at this 
hour and write this book. Have received as re- 
muneration for my services, for the entire time, 
less than twenty-five hundred dollars ; it is true I 
may not be worth more to my brethren, but my 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 18 

wife and children needed me at home, and had 
my wife been offered the amount for my services 
and have me absent she would have refused. I 
will here add that my success (if I have any) as a 
preacher and otherwise has heen attained in a 
great measure, at the sacrifice of a great deal of 
comfort, the companionship of my wife and chil- 
dren, having to get into debt in order to "keei3 
up," throwing the responsibility of rearing and 
training the children on the wife. Then the mu- 
tual anxiety, disappointments and responsibilities 
are enough to discourage a young preacher with a 
family. 

All preachers — Gospel preachers — will tell you 
that I am telling you the truth in this description 
of my hardships. As it is now fifteen minutes to 
twelve, I shall close this sad page, and retire, hop- 
ing that pleasant dreams may prepare my mind to 
think and write about something in my history 
brighter and more encouraging. Good night. 

I shall now refer to my business proclivities and 
experience. When quite a boy I observed that 
lawyers and politicians had, as I thought, a very 
easy time ; my father being something of a politi- 
cian, he generally surrounded himself by this class. 
They seemed to have nothing to do but prosecute 
some other man and attend to some other man's 



14 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

business, which I regarded as a very delightful 
business. Accordingly I approached my father on 
the subject, telling him that I had been studying 
law in his office, and I had written a good deal for 
him, until I had become quite familiar with his 
work. But I was told that he did not want me to 
become a lawyer, as that profession was overdone. 
I then turned my attention to medicine, and 
after studying about twelve months I concluded I 
was too timid, or tender hearted, and voluntarily 
gave it up. My older brother, in the meantime, 
had bought some prescriptions, or recipts, for pre- 
paring some excellent eye- water, and began to 
treat sore eyes, which he did very successfully, 
curing some cases that had been blind for many 
years. He desired me to become interested in this 
business. I consented and would have made a 
success of it, had not other circumstances inter- 
fered with it. On coming to Texas, I settled down 
to farm work and continued until I left it for 
the regular ministry. I treated several cases my- 
self restoring them to sight within a short time. 
I will devote the rest of this sketch to my 

BUSINESS AND POLITICAL CAREER. 

About July 1, A. D. 1875, I entered the school- 
room and for the first time in life I wielded the 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 15 

rod of a pedagogue, This business I continued 
until I had taught six terms. In the mean time I 
embarked in the mercantile profession. I pursued 
this very successfully for nearly two years, when by 
a damaging report concerning my financial condi- 
tion, together with a misunderstanding between 
myself and one of my creditors, caused them to 
close my house. I made bond, opened my house 
and continued business, though under very em- 
barrassing circumstances, until I had an oppor- 
tunity to close out the entire stock to Thompson 
& Ellington, a firm then residing in Troy, Texas. 
The firm who closed my house was Leon & H. 
Blum, of Galveston. The suit was carried to the 
supreme court of the State, and was afterward 
compromised, they paying me three hundred and 
twenty dollars in money, and ($1652) the amount 
of their claim against me. 

Thus was my business career brought suddenly 
to an end. Many of the claims held by me as 
outstanding accounts have not yet been collected, 
and perhaps never will be ; and what made the 
misfortune worse, was the fact that in a short time 
after I re-opened my house, I lost a memorandum 
containing more than seven hundred dollars in 
open accounts, which have never been found, which 
amount was clear loss. Other losses in connection 



16 A BKIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

with this forced me to give up my residence in 
Troy, to pay debts, and I have done but little else 
since, except to pay debts. This caused me a great 
deal of trouble and embarrassment. I had, how- 
ever, some friends who were willing to aid me in 
my misfortunes, and by giving me a chance I have 
been able to continue to this time. I am yet in 
debt, and it is with a hope of relieving my present 
straitened circumstances that I write this book. 
Of course this is not the only reason, but this is 
one which prompted me. 

Concerning my political career, I have very little 
to say. At the age of twenty-one I, accepted the 
Democratic platform of principles as the best we 
had. Although I had some objection to its ad- 
ministration, yet I knew of nothing in the way of 
party that could succeed against the old party in 
power. 

About April, A. D. 1885, I was elected by the 
Pendleton Council of U. F. of T. to represent them 
in a convention of Prohibitionists to meet in Dallas, 
the object of which was to organize and adopt 
means by which the Legislature of the State could 
be induced to submit to be voted on, an amend- 
ment to the constitution of the State. While it is 
true I did not go, yet at that time I thought, and 
yet think that the whisky traffic should be under 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 17 

a different system of management. I continued, 
however to vote the Democratic ticket. 

About June, A. D. 1886, while in Palo Pinto 
county conducting a protracted meeting, I was in- 
duced at the close to deliver a lecture on the sub- 
ject of temperance, which was construed by the 
Prohibitionists as an evidence that I was a sound 
Prohibitionist, although my mind had by this time 
undergone quite a change, not that I had changed 
from a Democrat to some other party, but I had 
about reached the conclusion that christians, and 
more especially ministers of the Gospel, should 
have nothing to do with elections, and hence I did 
not vote ; but had I voted I should have voted for 
local option (then pending in different parts of 
the State), but I thought I was willing for a ma- 
jority of the people to make laws for us and then 
give up to them without voting or holding office. 
But when on last spring the legislature submitted 
the question of State Prohibition to the people of 
Texas, I thought even then I might be forced to 
take a position either for or against it, and in or- 
der to be right I thought it necessary to study the 
question well from every standpoint. At the close 
of my investigations, I decided to have nothing to 
do with the matter. I communicated the same to 
my friends, who entertained entirely different 



18 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

ideas on this subject. The Prohibitionists con- 
sidered my position inconsistent with my work as 
a minister of the. gospel, while the Anti's accepted 
my decision as an indication favorable to their side 
of the question. In process of time the fight be- 
came so fierce and the lines were drawn so closely, 
that both sides demanded to know just what sen- 
timent a man entertained on that subject, and the 
universal proverb was: "He that is not for us is 
against us." Under such circumstances I was led 
to say that were I to vote either way, I would vote 
against the amendment. This was construed to 
mean that I was an Anti, notwithstanding I had 
repeatedly said that I could not be induced under 
any circumstances to take any part in the question. 
The report that I was an Anti spread with the 
greatest rapidity, creating excitement and preju- 
dice on the one hand, and joy and enthusiasm on 
the other. This state of things aroused the Elders 
of my congregation. Fearing that I might do my- 
self or the church a great injury, they came to me 
to talk the matter over— at least I thought that 
was the object of the interview ; it might have 
been an accidental conversation that brought up 
the subject, but in this conversation one of the 
Elders said that I had ^^ ruined myself and injured 
the church in Cleburne more than ten years could 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 19 

repair." While I did ilot believe this was the case, 
yet I felt that to longer serve a congregation which, 
in the estimation of one of the officers, was in sucli 
a condition, due to my peculiar sentiments on the 
subject of Prohibition, would ultimately ruin the 
church, and I made the same reply to them. This 
conversation took place on the morning of the 4th 
day of July, A. D. 1887. I there stated that in view 
of what they thought the church had suffered by 
my peculiar views on this subject, that I would 
immediately resign as their minister. To this, one 
of them replied : " Whatever you do, don't resign 
till after the election." I replied by saying that, 
"if the success of Prohibition depended on my de- 
ferring my resignation till after the election, it 
would have to go down." 

I freely admit that there was a good deal of feel- 
ing manifested by both parties, but I don't think 
there was a particle of anger. Before leaving the 
room, to show that I meant what I had said, I 
walked to the desk, asked for a pen and ink, and 
under their protest wrote out my resignation. 
When it was concluded, I presented it to one of 
the Elders, but he refused it. I then carried it to 
another, who accepted it with the understanding 
that it was to come up for the consideration of the 
congregation, and that his receiving it was merely 



20 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

for the purpose of bringing it before the brethren. 
This having taken place on the morning of the 4th 
of July celebration, the news spread everywhere. 

Immediately upon this I was requested to ad- 
dress the people on the night of the 6th of July, 
giving my reasons for resigning my position, and 
also for being opposed to the amendment. I con- 
sented. It was therefore published in several pa- 
pers, besides bills were struck announcing that I 
would address the people at the court-house, in 
Cleburne, on the night of the 6th of July. The 
house was crowded to its utmost capacity, and as I 
did not expect to address them any more, I wanted 
to canvass the entire subject. I talked, I suppose, 
about three hours. I tried to present what I had 
to say in such a way that I would not hurt the 
feelings of anyone. On the following day I had 
arrangements made for leaving on the evening 
train for Paris, Texas. Just before starting, I was 
presented with a list of names asking me to repro- 
duce the speech for publication, at any rate that 
part of it that pertained to the Prohibition amend- 
ment. I consented; and nine thousand of them 
were printed here, and were reprinted in different 
parts of the State and United States. 

A good many of my brethren and friends dis- 
agreed with me, and because I failed to view this 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR, 21 

question as they did, they said all manner of hard 
things about me, and did all they could to break 
me down. 

A short time, after leaving for Paris, in my ab- 
sence, the subject of my resignation came up for 
discussion, but was deferred by one of the Elders, 
who said : " We will defer this matter till our be- 
loved brother's return ; perhaps he can be induced 
to reconsider the matter and withdraw his resigna- 
tion."" But on my return I was ignored by this 
same brother in our prayer meetings, and when 
asked by another brother why he did so, said it 
was because I had made some remarks in my speech 
about the failure, on the part of the people, in re- 
ceiving what they prayed for, i. e., they prayed 
for rain during the drouth, and it did not rain ; 
they prayed for the success of Prohibition, and 
were defeated again. The conclusion was drawn 
from this that I did not believe in prayer. 

The foregoing statements can be endorsed as 
correct by the very best men in Cleburne, and 
should this book fall into the hands of one who 
has been prejudiced against me on account of ru- 
mor originating here or elsewhere, I hope he will 
write to the present Elders of the church here, and 
he will receive by return mail the facts corroborat- 
ing what I have written. 



22 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

Accordingly, on the first Lord's day after the 
election, the leading Elder of the church reported 
that as my resignation had been before the church 
for some time and had not been acted upon, he 
proposed the resignation be accepted without de- 
lay. This was done without the consent of the 
congregation. They demanded an investigation 
to see why I should not continue as their minister. 
This was denied them, and when two of the Elders 
saw the church was going to contend for their 
rights, they tendered their resignations as Elders 
and asked for letters of commendation. This r(^ 
quest was denied them on the ground that they 
were out of order. On account of this they have 
appeared to be insulted, or offended, and refuse to 
affiliate with the church in any way. The church 
subsequently called me to preach for them. I ac- 
cepted, and am still in their service. Kepeated 
efforts have been made to reconcile those brethren, 
but all have failed. 

I have written this much in order that persons 
not familiar with the facts may understand why 
the church in Cleburne is in such a condition. But 
thanks be to God, we are growing stronger every 
day. We have preaching every Lord's day ; Bible 
lesson every Lord's day evening, 3; 30. meeting for 
worship every Thursday night. 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 23 

There is nothing in our services which resembles 
the modern pastor, or sectarian system of govern- 
ment and polity; everything and everybody is 
plain. We go to church to worship God, and not 
to gossip, or show fine clothes, or style. The house 
is a good, substantial frame structure, well-situated 
as it respects elevation, nicely papered walls, with 
plain but comfortable seats. It also has a baptistry 
under the pulpit. The brethren here told me that 
this house was built several years since, mainly 
through the efforts of Bro. Bantau. 

1 do not know how long I shall remain here, but 
since these brethren have shown such a warm and 
abiding friendship for me, I feel as though I would 
be unworthy of their love were I to desert them 
under the present circumstances. The church being 
in debt, and nearly all the brethren poor, it will 
be a hard struggle for us, but the Lord has h^ped 
poorer people than we, and it is in him we trust 
for success. 

I am now thirty -five years of age, having been 
born Sunday, January 1, A. D. 1853. It is now 
Sunday, January 1, A. D. 1888. 

In January, A. D. 1886, I was made one of the 
associate editors of "The Firm Foundation," a 
semi-monthly religious paper published at Austin, 
Texas, by Bros. A. McGary and E. Hansbrough. 



24 A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR. 

This paper contains nothing but sound religious 
information, and costs but one dollar a year. I 
wish just here to state that I have not done as 
much for the paper as I ought, but unfortunately 
for the people in my section, we have had two 
very severe drouths, which have embarrassed the 
people very much. 

The foregoing sketch has been made up chiefly 
from my diary. A great many things have been 
omitted that affected others, which would have 
been proper to mention here, but we thought best 
to omit them at present. 

And now, in the hope that the mistakes of my 
past life here recorded may serve as a warning to 
those who read them, and that the author may be 
able in future to avoid them and their conse- 
quences, I subscribe myself very respectfully and 
fraternally, THE AUTHOR. 



CHAPTER I. 
BTERNITY UNDIVIDED. 

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth 
eternity, whose name is Holy : I dwell in the high and holy 
place.'' — IsA. LVII : 15. 

THE above passage of Scripture is suggestive 
of two thoughts, about which we wish to 
write in this chapter, viz.: God's omnipresence and 
local residence. The prophet states emphatically 
and unhesitatingly that God inhabits eternity. 
This is either true or false : which is it ? Let us 
suppose it is false, just because of the prejudice 
we have against the Bible. Mr. Ingersoll, whose 
name has become a household word wherever the 
English language is taught, as an opponent of the 
Christian religion, assumes that ''matter and force 
constitutes all the God there is, and that mind or 
thought is only force, and can only act through or 
within a brain." This has been considered by some 
unanswerable, by others, denied, but at the same 
time they admit if true, that the idea of a personal 
God would become a nullity. 

I will now, for the sake of argument, admit that 
the statement is true, viz.: ''Mind or thought is only 
force, and can only act through or within a brain, 



28 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

Let US now inquire, whence brain ? Is it the effect 
of chance ? Then, since chance has done so well, 
why substitute force for chance now? Why not 
contend for the doctrine of chance yet? I under- 
stand force to mean, strength, power, activity, en- 
ergy, etc. 

The best scholars the world has ever produced, 
even among the materialists, admit that this world 
was once in a. liquid state, and even Prof. Haeckel, 
in his "History of Creation," (Vol. 1, pages 48-75,) 
deposes as follows, viz.: "But a truly natural and 
consistent view of organisms can assume no super- 
natural act of creation, for even those simplest 
original forms [are] but only a coming into existence 
by spontaneous generation. From Darwin's view of 
of the nature of species we arrive therefore at 
the natural theory of development. 'The funda- 
mental idea which must lie at the bottom of all 
natural theories of development, is that of a gradual 
development of all (even the most perfect ) organ 
isms out of a simple, or out of a very few quite 
simple and quite imperfect original beings, which 
came into existence, not by supernatural, but by 
spotaneous generation, or archigony, out of inor- 
ganic matter.' " [Italics mine.] 

Again, in other parts of his work (History of 
Creation) he says, only such homogeneous organ- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 29 

isms as are yet not differentiated and are similar 
to the inorganic crystals, in being homogeneously 
composed of one single substance, could arise by 
spontaneous generation and could become the pri- 
meval parents of all other organisms/' These are 
specimens of the materialistic theory of creation, 
origin of life, etc. And that, too, from the greatest 
thinkers among them — Ingersoll, Haeckel and 
Darwin. 

AVliile I know I am not able to cope with these 
men in point of scholarship and scientific reputa- 
tion, yet I feel I must say something in checking 
the rapid progress of infidelity, that is found not 
only in our country at large, but in the church. 

Now let us get before our minds the points to be 
examined: (1), Mr. Ingersoll assumes that "mat- 
ter and force is all the God there is," and that 
there is no force (God) except within a brain. 
(2), Mr. Haeckel assumes that forms of life origin- 
ated in a very small lump of pure albumen, which 
becomes a moneron. The moneron afterward con- 
tracting itself in the middle, then by self -division 
becomes two, and becomes male and female, etc. 
(3), Mr. Darwin supports this idea, except he as- 
sumes that man was produced through descent, 
with "slow and slight successive modifications;" 
and that in regard to the different kingdoms, such 



30 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

as vertebrata, articnlata, etc., "They descended 
from a single pregenitor." ( Darwin's origin of Spe- 
cies, pages 420, 425, 428.) The only difference be- 
tween Mr. Darwin and the other distinguished 
gentlemen above referred to, consists in the fact 
that Mr. Darwin admits of an intelligent first cause 
while the others do not. We have before admitted 
that Mr. I. was right, and the quotations from the 
others were given to show that they agree. We 
therefore reason, (1), Force means strength, power, 
energy, activity, etc.; (2), Then force (God) did 
not exist until there was a brain, and there was no 
brain in the moneron, the first form of life ; and 
(3), there cannot be evolved from a substance that 
which is not in it. Therefore we would have no 
force yet, and for this reason, I suppose, Mr. Inger- 
soll assumes the position he does. But will Mr. 
Ingersoll assume that there is no force now ? 

Here is a syllogism expressing Mr. IngersoU's 
position : (a) There is no God outside of a brain. 
(b) In the first form of life (moneron) there was 
no brain, (c) In the first form of life (moneron) 
there was no God. What may be said of God in 
or from the above syllogism, may also be said of 
force, for he uses them as synonims. 

Now is Mr. IngersoU's time to object. He will 
not accept the inevitable conclusion of his own 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 31 

theory, for well he knows that it is a matter of im- 
possibility for tliis world to exist a moment without 
the known forces, such as light, heat, attraction, 
etc. According to his own theory, the moneron 
should have had brains, or there existed cohesive 
force to hold the particles together that formed 
the moneron. 

From the above reasoning we see that we could 
not reason away God, whom we cannot see, but we 
would reason away things we see and know do ex- 
ist — which is absurd, to say the least of it. We 
leave this part of the controversy for the present, 
and proceed to notice the other side of this ques- 
tion, and in doing so I wish to affirm that God is 
not only force, but is the origin of all force element. 
Take the ]3rophet's expression, "He inhabiteth 
eternity." We know things which belong to time 
may be converted into something else, but we can- 
not say that they, or we, inhabit eternity. Now, 
on the principle that there is nothing really sus- 
ceptible of annihilation, yet the ever-changing and 
varying forms of physical substances teaches us 
that the forces inherent, operate them. Force is not 
self -existent ; it must depend upon an author. Man 
is not the author, for man is not able to suspend 
any force ; he may resist, but not suspend. 

Who can measure eternity ? It is represented in 



32 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

our diagram at the beginning of this chapter by 
the large circle enclosing all the smaller ones ; like 
the ring, it has no end. When the mind seeks to 
know or understand something of eternity it in- 
voluntarily reverts to the longest period of time 
known to man and uses it as a basis for calculation, 
and at once the multiplication of these numbers 
begins and continues until we are lost in a mass 
of figures, and finally conclude that though this 
world has stood for thousands of years, and yet 
has not completed a moment of eternity, '- God in- 
habiteth eternity ; " he is the only being that ever 
did, or is now able to do it. Eternity includes all 
time — past, present, and will also the future. 

2._HIS LOCAL RESIDENCE. 

By local, I mean His capitol, the metropolis of 
the universe, the home of God. This is evidently 
in the center of the universe. As all our planets 
revolve around the center of our solar system, so 
all planetary systems revolve around the one gen- 
eral center — the Palace Royal of the universe 
(see diagram), filled with the music of angels in 
their praises to God and the Lamb that was slain 
to redeem us and purify unto himself a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works. 

How much harder to believe that God made 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 33 

the first animal and ordered that man should be 
evolved from it, than to believe that God made all 
the various species and gave them the power of 
procreation, so that they might propagate their 
species. The former is assumption, the latter is a 
self-evident fact. 

Again, it is much easier to believe that God ex- 
ists and Has a place of residence from which, like 
the sun, radiates and acts on all bodies surround- 
ing him, and as the piece of iron exposed to the 
rays of the sun becomes magnetized, so we, placing 
ourselves under the benign influences of God, to 
the same extent become charged with the divine 
mind. And thus is verified the statement of Paul, 
who said ; " It is in him we live, move and have 
our being."- Acts., xvii : 28. 

According to the positions assumed in this work, 
it will be very easy for the reader to see how time 
could be, and was evolved from eternity, but not 
eternity evolved from time. The former is correct 
and true evolution, while the latter is involution. 
Again, we can see how God could evolve out of 
his incorporeal, invisible substance, all the parti- 
cles, whether corporeal or incorporeal substances, 
in the universe, which would be true evolution, 
while to assume that substance such as man, mind, 
life, etc., was developed through, or by objective 



34 THE PAPEl? WHEEL, OR 

influences, "with slow and slight successive modi- 
fication," is involution, and not evolution at all, 
but the reverse. To afiirm that God inhabits eter- 
nity, involves the idea of occux)ying all space. 

This brings us to the threshold of the most 
wonderful proposition ever contemplated by the 
human mind; wonderful in its extent, height, 
depth and length. Where is the mind that is 
willing to undertake its exploration? The most 
approximate calculation might miss it a million 
fold. 

By the most recent astronomical calculations 
and discoveries, it has been ascertained that our 
planet is about 8,000 miles in diameter, and that 
it is but one of many that revolve around our sun, 
which is about 880,000 times greater than the 
earth. We will then suppose our sun is just as 
great in magnitude as the combined magnitude of 
its planets and their satellites ; and in order to 
make the calculation easy, we will say that there 
are 100 such planets, with an orbit each having a 
diameter of 200,000,000 miles ; and there are 6,000,- 
000 such suns visible to the eye, to say nothing of 
the many millions seen through the most powerful 
telescopes. Taking these figures alone, using our 
own solar system as an illustration, we require a 
center for this (limited) universal system equal to 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 35 

200,000,000 X 6,000,000 = 12,000,000,000,000 miles 
in diameter. Now let us suppose this to be a globe 
sufficiently electrified and magnetized to govern 
and hold all the systems in their regular revolu- 
tions, and that it is inhabited, does it it not seem 
that it would be a fit habitation for God ? and from 
this point to behold and superintend this grand 
and universal system of worlds? 

''Oh! Eternity, thou unseen, unknown. 
Wherein our Grod doth dwell alone! " 

Angels, men, and other creatures may occupy 
space, and dwell in some parts of the universe, yet 
God alone inhabits eternity. From our calculation 
it may be clearly seen that the center of the uni- 
verse (see diagram) may be a great deal larger 
than we have supposed it to be, but it can by no 
means be smaller. This must be the "High" and 
"Holy" place selected for his throne. 

In the contemplation of this solution, the mind 
naturally inquires if God was idle during the mill- 
ions of years prior to man's creation ? The reader 
must understand that we are reasoning on proposi- 
tions of boundless proportions, and only approxi- 
mate answers can be given, and these are compara- 
tive, and are based on analogical evidences. Our 
answer, therefore, to this question is, that if we 
can say that God was idle during any portion of 



36 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

eternity, then all the forces employed by him in 
the organization and perpetuation of the universe 
must have been disengaged at the same time, which 
would have caused a return of all things to their 
original chaotic condition. This conclusion no 
scientist will deny. 

Thus we see, that as the force of cohesion holds 
the particles of steel together in the bar, or the 
gases together in air or water, so the forces em- 
ployed by him have ever been employed in evolv- 
ing, manifesting and controlling the world, for all 
are subject to him. What a glorious view of God, 
his magnificent abode, in his royal (kingly) palace, 
looking out over all his vast dominions, exerting 
alike his influences on all the objects surrounding 
him, for he declares that "he is no respecter of 
persons." 

Thus are we made to feel that we are related to 
the great God and Father of. us all ; that while he 
has been kind enough to provide food, air, heat, 
light, water, etc., for our use and gratification, yet 
if we abuse or neglect them, we will certainly suf- 
fer the consequences alike under the same penal- 
ties, and "there is no respect of persons." 

By reference to the diagram on first page, the 
reader will see, in the center, the letters spelling 
the word origin, thus demonstrating the theory of 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 37 

evolution (unfolding) of all things from God's own 
substantial existence, not only time, but all things, 
whether they be intelligent or unintelligent enti- 
ties; thus establishing our relationship not only 
to the world, but God himself. 

We now conclude this chapter, assured of the 
fact, that if we are not able to grasi^ and fully 
comprehend the subject we have attempted to treat, 
it is far more reasonable and satisfactory to the 
human mind than the mere speculations of materi- 
alists. And since it is impossible for us to know 
all things in this life, let us hope that when we 
are done with the things that belong to time, with 
our enlarged faculties we will be conserved where, 
without the encumbrances incident to this life, we 
will be able to explore all the regions of space, and 
feast ourselves upon the grandeur and sublimity 
of those things which appear so difficult to master 
in this life. 



CHAPTER II. 
CREATION. 

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." — 
Gen. i: 1. 

VE now come to consider the creation of the 
world. The above scripture is very emphatic, 
and contains, or comprehends, a great deal more 
than most Bible readers are accustomed to teach. 
It is an independent sentence, intended as a gen- 
eral statement, to answer the most important of 
all questions, throughout all ages and generations 
of men; and when time shall be no more, and 
when these physical, temporal elements shall melt 
with fervent heat, and all physical objects shall 
be dissolved, the answer will be the same. We are 
indebted to the Bible for this answer, not the wis- 
dom or discoveries of men. 

There are two words in this sentence that scep- 
tics and infidels have tried for ages to remove, viz.: 
"God" and "create." It is well they are thus asso- 
ciated, for it would be impossible for us to think 
of "God" without that reverence ascribed to a cre- 
ator. Again, it would be impossible for us to think 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 39 

of "create," without attributing the act that this 
word signifies to an intelligent God. 

The idea of God is in the world. We are in- 
debted to some source for it ; to what source shall 
we attribute it? There are but two sources to 
which we may hope to trace it, viz.: The Bible, or 
it was originated by man. To admit the former is 
enough to destroy the foundation of all the in- 
fidelity in the world. To contend for the latter 
would be absurd in the extreme, for, to contend 
that man can originate an idea, is to attribute 
creative ability to him. Hence, we see no chance 
for the sceptic, or infidel, in the decision of this 
question. 

The idea of create is a divine idea. It does not 
belong to man ; he has no use for it. The idea of 
make, in the sense of construct, form, etc., are words 
adapted to us, but not create. The Bible says : 
" In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth." This, as we said before, is usually under- 
stood to mean that some six thousand years ago 
God created them, etc. I cannot consistently be- 
lieve this is true. I think this is an independent 
statement, taking it in, or out of its connection, 
and that it means just what it says. The creation 
might have occurred six million years ago, or it 
may not be completed yet. I am inclined to the 



40 TIIE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

latter idea. In this age of progress in arts and 
sciences I think is the last age of creation. Who 
knows that God did not have six days to represent 
his six thousand years, or six periods of time, to 
evolve, or develop man intellectually, morally and 
physically. 

But some one is ready, perhaps, with the ques- 
tion, of what was the earth and heaven and all 
things in them created? We answer that there 
are several conflicting theories among scientists; 
the latest being regarded as the most correct. Ma- 
terialists claim an eternity of matter as the founda- 
tion of all things, while Christian (?) scientists, 
many of them, claim that God created them out of 
nothing ; still there others who believe with the 
apostles of Jesus, that God formed and is forming 
all things out of his own substantial existence; 
That it is, and was just as easy for God to create 
a world as to create a single thing or class of thing-s. 

The true theory of evolution implies the unfold- 
ing or developing of the parts from the whole, 
while involution is the reverse, i. e., the unfolding 
or developing of the whole from the parts. Among 
those who teach involution for evolution, may be 
mentioned Darwin, Spencer and Haeckel. These 
are called the great lights among the evolutionists, 
while they are mere involutionists. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 41 

Let US see if this charge is true, for it is a very 
grave one I assure you, and if I succeed in demon- 
strating it to be true, I shall be able to rob them 
of all the glory they have achieved under the name 
of evolution. 

They agree substantially in, (1) That all forms 
of animal life began in " a small lump of albumen,'" 
or a small particle of ''protoplasm,'' or ''bioplasm.'' 
Now, these substances are admitted to be deposits 
in the ocean, and under certain conditions may 
contain forms of life, but it is emphatically denied 
that these contain the original form of animal life. 
Take Mr. Haeckel's moneron, as the parent of the 
human race, and all other organisms (by sponta- 
neous generation), and the others virtually admit 
it, that the single moneron (he does not say it pos- 
sesses sex, but we will suppose it does — what sex 
is it ? masculine or feminine ? Let us suppose it is 
masculine; will a " self -division," as he styles it, 
produce both sexes, or another sex than the one 
previously possessed?) could contract itself in the 
middle until it becomes two, and is in a short time 
capable of reproducing itself, etc. 

And furthermore, by a " succession of slow and 
slight modifications," man, with everything else, 
was evolved. Is not my charge sustained? Was 
not the lump of pure albumen, moneron, or what- 



42 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

ever they may call it, a part of the world? and 
have they not tried to show that all life originated 
with it? Then take any other proposition involv- 
ing the same thought as odvocated by them, and 
you will find the same result, involution. Much 
more could be said under this head, but we must 
leave this for the purpose of noticing other fea- 
tures of the subject. Before doing so, however, I 
will give one other passing notice of what is said 
of man as an organism. It is claimed by material- 
ists that "man is composed only, of about five and 
a half pails full of water, about forty-five pounds 
of carbon, magnesia, and a little iron, etc." What 
a wonderful organism for such achievements as are 
attributed to man — a few pails full of water, etc. 
When we stand and gaze at a passing train, loaded 
with its cargo of human lives, flying at the rate of 
forty miles per hour, we wonder at the sight ; but 
on investigation we find that all this machinery is 
controlled by five and a half pails full of water, 
carbon, magnesia, iron, etc. But we are told by 
Mr. Spencer that man has been developed by ex- 
perience, and this experience has been transmitted 
from one generation to another until the present 
advanced state of society and intelligence. This 
requires a greater stretch of the mind than to be- 
lieve the Bible account of creation. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 43 

We now ask the reader to turn back to the dia- 
gram, examine the six small circles surrounding 
the one in the center, together with the central 
circle, making the seventh. You will observe that 
they bear the names of the seven days of the week. 
Now on the principle of evolution, it is certain 
that these days —creative days — are representa- 
tive of the cycles, or ages, in which man is de- 
signed to exist. I have not at present the means 
of determining the value of the Plebrew word sig- 
nifying day, as used in this connection, but ac- 
cording to my recollection of a famous discussion 
of this question, it was decided that the word 
merely signified an indefinite time, or term. Grant- 
ing this as true, we are ready to affirm that the 
Bible account of creation is true, and that these 
were simply periods of creation, or formation, ac- 
cording to the well known laws inhering in all 
the species and classes of things. And that since 
the first creative age, many others, probably, have 
passed, but the work of creation may continue for 
some years to come. - 

Let us take the first chapter of Genesis and try 
the statement of Moses by the present acknowl- 
edged theory concerning the origin of the physical 
world. Scientists contend that the world existed 
in a chaotic state ; that all the elements contained 



44 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

in the physical world were mere atoms. Granting 
this to be true, we proceed to examine what Moses 
said. In Gen. 1:2, 3 : "And the earth (before it 
was earth) was without form and void, and darkness 
was upon the face of the deep. And God said, 
let there be light, and there was light." 

The language here ascribed to Moses very accu- 
rately describes what the best scientists have been 
trying to tell us for centuries. Note his words : 
"And the earth was without form, (waste) and void 
(empty), and darkness was on the face of the deep " 
(bottomless depth). For the words, without form 
and void, we give their present meaning and we 
have what scientists would make us believe, /. e., 
that the world was waste and empty, but that by 
the motion of these atoms caused by some un- 
known power, or cause, these atoms were chemic- 
ally united, thus forming globes, constituting our 
systems of worlds. Moses tells us just what it 
was that disturbed the elements while in their 
chaotic state. "And the Spirit of God moved upon 
the waters (gaseous matter), and God said, let 
there be light and there was light." 

They tell us furthermore that the earth, when 
first formed was a boiling, seething ocean, and all 
the particles containing solids ran to the center, 
while those containing fluids remained on the out- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 45 

side. Moses said, "And gathered the waters (fluids) 
together, and the dry land appeared." Scientists 
tell us that during the cooling process a crust was 
formed on the outnide, and the convulsions of the 
earth caused the mountains and other irregular 
surfaces on the face of the earth, and the large 
bodies of water they call seas, etc. Moses said, 
"The dry land he (God) called earth, and the 
gathering together of the waters called he seas," etc. 

Geologists inform us that four thousand years 
would have been required in the process of cooling 
this earth before light could be reflected upon its 
surface. Moses said that God created the sun, 
moon and stars (satellites). Of course he would 
not be expected to treat at length on this subject, 
but as he is writing for the people on this earth 
only, it should not be expected of him to write 
about other systems and people ; and the evening 
and the morning were the fourth day. Granting 
that the word here rendered day was used then to 
signify an indefinite time, then we have another 
argument, viz.: the sun shone on, or in the four 
thousandth year. 

Scientists inform us that the space not occupied 
by organized bodies is the fountain or source of all 
the elements known to us. Moses said that during 
the deluge "The fountains of the great deep were 



46 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

broken up." For such a deluge as this it was 
necessary to draw on the fountains of the great 
deep (bottomless depth) of unorganized matter t(j 
supplement this great, unprecedented rain. 

In all these statements there is perfect harmony, 
which thoroughly establishes one of three things, 
viz.: (1) That Moses did not know, but guessed at 
it, and guessed the truth, or, (2) That he was a 
better scientist in his day than any of those of to- 
day, for he asserted what were facts, that required 
ages to discover by other means, and then they are 
based on mere assumption ; or, (3) Moses was in- 
spired to write the account of the creation. We 
have here a trilemma ; scientists may take either 
horn they please. If they say that he guessed it, 
why do they not give him credit for it ^ Should 
they say that he was a better scientist than they, 
on the principle of "survival of the fittest," why 
did it not survive among sceptical scientists dur- 
ing the dark ages? Should they admit that he 
was inspired, it would be a complete settlement of 
the question, though we may not be able to under- 
stand all he said. 

I will now offer one other solution of this prob- 
lem, as follows, viz.: Adam was associated with 
Seth several hundred years. During this time he 
could have told him all about the creation. Seth 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 47 

was associated with Methusaleh for several hun- 
dred years ; Methusaleh associated for several hun- 
dred years with Noah, and Noah with Shem, and 
Shem with Abram, and Abram with Ezrom, and 
Ezrom with Moses, and Moses wrote what he knew. 
The above solution is based upon traditional dy- 
nasties. Thus, through these eight dynasties of 
the the patriarchs we could have received a knowl- 
edge of these things without inspiration. 

We very often show ourselves to be inconsistent 
by denying plain facts of the Bible. I have known 
persons who denied that Adam was the first man, 
because geology seemed to teach that the world 
had been in existence several thousand years longer 
than our chronologists seem to think, never paus- 
ing to think that perhaps our chronologists were 
wrong. 

We know that it is a very difiicult matter to 
have a correct record as it regards dates ; I will 
even go farther and say that it is impossible to get 
the dates of events so as to enable us to determine 
the exact length of time the world has heen in 
existence. 

One other difficulty with some is, that skeletons 
of men and animals, the races or species of which 
have for many thousands of years been extinct. It 
seems that it had never occurred to them that 



48 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

these men might be mistaken about the date at 
which these men and animals became extinct. A 
few centuries since the nations knew very little of 
each other. Then, if we who possess such remark- 
able facilities for exploring countries, knew, in 
these late centuries, so little of other countries, to 
what extent can we rely upon what has been re- 
ceived as evidence in these matters, from those 
who lived in the dark ages of the world ? It is 
almost impossible, we are told, to find in Palestine 
the scene of great events recorded in the New 
Testament, and far more difficult to locate the 
places as scenes of the Old Testament events. It 
is true, you can find persons who will tell you, 
" this is the place ; " but perhaps the next man you 
see professes to know all about it, and he will 
point out a different place. Thus are we kept in 
doubt as to the real facts in the case. But shall 
we be so inconsistent as to deny that they occurred ? 
Shall we say, they did not occur, because the men 
who live in that country fail to know the exact 
locality, etc.? 

As an evidence of this inconsistency, I refer the 
reader to the histories of our late civil war. In 
the histories describing the surrender of General 
Robert E. Lee, they make a very beautiful and 
touching story of it, mentioning the apple tree and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 49 

thetic conversation between Generals Lee and 
Grant. But when General Grant wrote about it, 
he denied all this pretty picture drawn, no doubt, 
to please the fancy of the reader. Other conflict- 
ing statements were written by different authors 
concerning the same cause, who differed just as 
widely. Now shall we deny that there was any 
war or bloodshed, because there are conflicting 
records of the events ? This would not be wise. 
This sceptics do, concerning the Bible. 

We come now to conclude this chapter, and we 
feel that we have merely stepped upon the thresh- 
old of the subject. Beyond and all around lie the 
great facts and evidences almost untouched. But 
were we to try to exhaust this subject we should 
have no room for anything else. We ask the 
reader not to think we meant to elaborate this 
feature, but merely treat it in the way we have 
because it is necessarily connected with the sub- 
ject matter of the book. In a future chapter we 
propose to discuss more fully the subjects of tradi- 
tion and chronology. 



CHAPTER III. 
T I JVI E . 

"And when the seven thunders uttered their voices I was 
about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven sa3'ing, seal 
up the things which the seven thunders uttered and write them 
not. And the angel which I saw standing upon the sea and 
upon the earth, lifted his right hand to heaven, and swore b}' 
Him that liveth forever and ever, who created the heaven and 
the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that 
are therein, that there shall be time no longer,'' — Rev. x: 4-G. 
(Revised version.) 

THE above scripture is remarkable in that it 
tells us when time shall he no more. As proof 
of the fact that we are living in an age in which 
all times are full, we refer the reader to Eph. 1:10: 
"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times 
he might gather together in one all things in 
Christ," etc. By reference to the diagram the 
reader will see that the line representing the 
spoke in the wheel, connecting the first, Edenic 
cycle, passing directly through the center, or last 
cycle, with the fourth, or middle cycle, at the bot- 
tom. This must be admitted to be a remarkable 
coincidence. All periods, cycles, or dispensations 
are full in this age. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 51 

We ask the reader to note carefully, as we men- 
tion, the different ages through which man has 
and must pass. 1st cycle, Edenic ; 2d, Patriarchal ; 
3d, Jewish; 4th, Christian — the present and last 
of time ; 5th, Intermediate State ; 6th, Millennial 
State ^ where Christ now is ; 7th, Eternal State — 
center — time ended. 

Evolution means unfolding from within. In the 
center of this diagram we represent the origin of 
all things; hence the origin of time. The first 
moment of the first division of time was the be- 
ginning of the first day of the week. This day 
was evolved from eternity and represents the first 
cycle (Edenic) at the top of the diagram. Accord- 
ing to the best chronologists Adam and Eve re- 
mained in the garden of Eden less than one hun- 
dred years. It matters very little in the discussion 
of this question, whether they were there a year 
or a thousand years; the object we have in view, 
is to make such distinction in marking the differ- 
ent ages as to enable the reader to fully under- 
stand us. It is very evident that this was a 
separate age, for under that form of government 
man had a right to the tree of life, but was imme- 
diately afterward denied this right together with 
the other privileges of this paradise. 

There are some who refuse to believe the story 



52 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

of the garden and its occupants, but let us lay 
aside our prejudice and take a common-sense, prac- 
tical view of this case. If we succeed in showing 
that there was a transgression of law, then it must 
be admitted that the other facts existed. We as- 
sume, then, (1) That man has a law (desire) in 
him peculiar to himself; (2) This law compre- 
hends a desire for knowledge and a desire for life. 
To convince man that God had the ability to sat- 
isfy the demands of this (subjective) law, he gave 
him two symbols, viz.: the tree of life and the tree 
of knowledge of good and evil. 

No doubt God designed man to develop by study, 
application and experience, but certainly designed 
also by this tree, as a symbol, to teach man that as 
he could create a tree possessing all the elements 
of knowledge, he could also give to man the latent 
forces capable of growth and development intel- 
lectually, which are known to exist in man. The 
tree of life evidently possessed all the principles 
of life as food, and was used, doubtless, to teach 
man that as the fruit of this tree, as food, con- 
tained the principles of life, invigorating and vi- 
talizing the body, he could, and did create man 
also with the desire for, and the means of enjoying 
them. 

With these statements before us, we wish to 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 53 

illustrate our proposition with incidents in our 
own experience. But before we do this, let us de- 
fine the word " transgress," which means passing a 
given limit. We know by experience that there is 
a limit to our enjoyment of the good things we 
have every day, i. e., if we eat too much, or drink, 
sleep, or work too much, we " transgress " the law, 
and suffer the consequences, all because we " passed 
the given limit," as did our first parents in eating 
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Now to return to one of our premises, that since 
the fruit of a tree possesses those properties of 
food which vitalize the entire system, is it un- 
reasonable to suppose that a tree existed contain- 
ing the elements capable of invigorating and 
inspiring the mind? One thing is certain, and 
that is, something besides a natural course of life 
has developed man, intellectually and morally. 
This is demonstrated in the case of the savage 
nations. 

We return now to continue the discussion of the 
ages. Leaving the Edenic, passing to the right 
the next age in order is the Patriarchal cycle, or 
dispensation. This age dates back to the expul- 
sion of our first parents from the garden, and cov- 
ers a period of more than two thousand years, ac- 
cording to the popular method, and ten thousand 



54 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

by the dynasty method, and was concluded only 
by the introduction of the next, or Jewish age, un- 
der a mediator, Moses. This age lasted more than 
fifteen hundred years. The next in order is what 
is known as the gospel, or Christian age. This 
has been in existence for nearly nineteen hundred 
years. The next is the Intermediate age, or state 
of the dead. This very idea implies the conscious 
state of the spirit after death, and before the resur- 
rection. The sixth is the Millennial state, or that 
age (future to us) in which Christ now is, to which 
the saved of every nation will be gathered in the 
resurrection. The seventh and last (center of dia- 
gram) is the Eternal state of man, and then will 
the angel utter the language used at the begin- 
ning of this chapter; then time shall be no more. 
Eternity shall have swallowed up all time. We 
shall have no sun nor moon to give light by day, 
" for there shall be no night there." We will have 
no planets revolving in space, and hence we will 
have no shadow of the earth, or any other planet. 
This age will be the consummation of all things, 
and will terminate in the conservation of all the 
forces, whether they be physical, moral, or spiritual. 
The sense in which I have used these figures in 
the diagram, is that in each age represented he 
has had a sepai*ate and distinct government — 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 55 

divine government. And while there are three 
governments, or forms of government, yet future 
to us, it is certain that these are in existence now. 
The dead are in the Intermediate state. But Jesus 
said while here on the earth and just before as- 
cending to his Father, that, " In my Father's house 
are many mansions [the six states without the 
Millennial cycle] ; if it were not so I would have 
told you. / go to prepare a place for you." This 
resurrection state was not in existence till Jesus 
went to prepare it. He has it prepared, and hence 
the apostle Paul could exclaim so confidently, 
"That in the dispensation of the fullness of the 
times he might gather together in one all things 
in Christ, whether they be things in heaven, or 
things in the earth," etc. Jesus furthermore said : 
" If I go and prepare a place for you I will come 
again and receive you to myself, that where I am 
there ye may be also."-John xiv : 2-3. This, then, 
is evidently the place he prepared for the disciples. 
This also completes the sacred number seven cycles, 
or dispensations of divine government. 

By reference to the diagram you will observe 
this view is supported by the analogy of nature, 
viz.: the seven stages of animal life — human life: 
First stage, Embryonic (see diagram, first cycle at 
top), or womb state. This is the first form of hu- 



56 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

man life known to man. There are some things 
we may guess at, but this is not one of them. The 
second is the Childhood (after birth) stage, or state. 
This is another thing we absolutely know. The 
third is, the Youth stage. The fourth is the full- 
grown Manhood stage. The fifth is, Middle age 
state — that state through which manhood reaches, 
through maturity, a point where his strength be- 
gins to fail, decline of life. Then the sixth is Old 
age state. Such a state Solomon describes in Eccl. 
xii : 1-10. The seventh and last state known to man 
in this world is that of Death. Here the great drama 
of life closes and the curtain falls and closes any 
further knowledge, in the sense of personal knowl- 
edge of the man so far as this world is concerned. 
We next invite the attention of the reader to 
another feature of the analogy of nature, viz.? The 
vegetable kingdom. The first state of the vegetable 
absolutely known to man is the Seed state (see dia- 
gram at top), in which it is sown, otherwise it 
could never reproduce itself. The second is that 
of the Blade state. The third is that of the Stalk 
state. The fourth is that of the full-grown Ear, 
representing the present, gospel, or Christian era. 
The fifth is that of Ripe Corn. The sixth is that of 
the Harvest, and very beautifully represents death, 
in the human life illustration, where the chaff is 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 57 

separated from the wheat. The seventh is that of 
the Garner, represented by the circle in the center 
of the diagram. This is the garner of all things, 
from which, also, originates all things, whether 
they be physical, mental, or moral. 

But to return to the sixth cycle, where death — 
separation of body and spirit — is represented by 
the Harvest, separation of the wheat and the chaff. 
There are a few thoughts in this illustration that 
deserve more than a passing notice. The first is 
that it represents in addition to the separation of 
soul and body, and wheat and chaff, the separation, 
also, of the righteous and wicked, which will take 
place just at this period of the world's existence ; 
also the dissolution of all things prior to the con- 
servation of all the forces of nature. Just here a 
great deal more might be said under this head, 
but for our present purpose enough has been said 
to get the reader's attention directed to the points 
we expect to make more clear, further on in this 
work. 

In view of the foregoing statements and argu- 
ments, we reason, that if in the different lines of 
thought and argument, the vegetable and animal 
life, together with the forms of divine government, 
shall be conserved in the great conservation of 
original force elements, will not time also be 



58 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

conserved by losing its distinctions as periods, 
cycles, years, days, etc. Then eternity will be fully 

realized. 

The age in which we live is a very remarkable 
one for many reasons, principal among which is 

its advancement in the departments of scientific 
research, inventions and finer arts. 

One hundred years ago there were no telegraph 
and telephone lines in the world ; electricity, mag- 
netism, and the power of steam, with a great 
many of the labor-saving machines of to-day were 
almost unknown until less than fifty years ago. 
All this indicates that we are living in the last 
days of this age. The prophet said that "knowl- 
edge should increase." The world is being edu- 
cated through the press ; millionaires are made in 
a few years ; schools are conducted in a systematic 
way everywhere, and teachers' associations are be- 
ing held in which the best methods for advancing 
pupils are discussed, all tending to show that we 
are nearing the time when we may expect a change 
in the divine government. 

I propose to devote the rest of this chapter to 
the discusion of one of my major premises, viz.: 
That three dispensations of divine government 
have passed, viz.: the Edenic, Patriarchal, and Jew- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 59 

ish, and that we are living in the fourth, or middle 
dispensation — the last, during time. As it respects 
the question of the three past dispensations, there 
can be no opposition, hence that part of the sub- 
ject will not be argued. We will try to prove that 
we are living in the last age of the world in which 
time is computed, and that there are three dispensa- 
tions yet future to us. I know this seems to be a 
contradiction, but please withhold your sentence 
till we shall have explained ourself, and I think 
all of the apparent contradiction will disappear. 

Before introducing my proof, however, I wish to 
remark, that while it is true that a part of the 
church (at the second coming of Christ) will not 
sleep — go into the Intermediate state — yet it is 
future properly speaking, because it is a state (of 
death) after this life. This view of the subject is 
based on the language of the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 
xv:51-52 : " Behold I shew you a mystery ; we shall 
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo- 
ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, 
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 
The apostle is here speaking of the time the dead 
shall be raised, and says substantially that it will 
not be necessary for all to die (sleep), but will be 
necessary for us to change the nature of our bodies 



60 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

in order to enjoy that celestial home pre^Dared for 
them. 

In order to show that the resurrection of the 
dead and the second coming of Christ will be simul- 
taneous, we refer the reader to 1 Thess. iv : 15-17: 
" For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, 
that we which are alive and remain unto the com- 
ing of the Lord shall not prevent (anticipate) those 
who are asleep (dead) , for the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are 
alive and remain shall be caught u^p together with 
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air," 
etc. By comparing the two passages, the reader 
will observe that our position is correct. 

But this will not be the end of time exactly ; for 
we expect the woes which are spoken of in the 
Apocalypse to begin immediately after the resur- 
rection. A great many persons tell me that they 
would be religious if they had good, strong evi- 
dence of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Bible. 
Reader, if you are one of this kind, let me say that 
should you live till the above described time, you 
will have all the evidence you want, and perhaps 
more; but you must remember that when that 
time comes there will not be a Christian on the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 61 

earth ; they will be within, and those who are un- 
fortunate enough to be unbelievers until Jesus 
comes, will be among that class that came and 
knocked for admittance and were denied. 

Let me beseech you to " be ye also ready, for in 
such an hour as ye know not, the Lord may come.'' 
Think of it, reader! Life is short at best. "He 
that is unfaithful in this world's goods, who will 
commit to him the true riches?" 

During the Millennial dispensation the judg- 
ment will take place. The end of time will follow 
immediately upon this scene. This is described by 
Paul in 1 Cor. XV : 24-25: "Then cometh the end 
when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God' 
even the Father, when he shall have put down 
rule and all authority and power, for he must 
reign." etc. This describes our transfer from the 
authority of Jesus to God, which is our passing 
from the Millennial to the Eternal state. 



CHAPTER IV. - 

THIS WORLD CREATED 

FOR IVIAN. 

"And blessed them, and Grod said unto them, Be fruitful 
and multiply [reproduce yourselves], and replenish the earth 
and subdue it ; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and 
over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that 
moveth upon the face of the earth. And God said. Behold I 
have given j'-ou every herb bearing seed which is upon the face 
of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a 
tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat [food]." — Gen. 
I : 28-29. 

THE above scripture thoroughly establishes the 
proposition which stands at the heading of 
this chapter. We know that man has control, or 
dominion over all things, whether the Bible was 
inspired or not. Why did IMoses say this? Ani- 
mals and birds have instinct, and are perfect in 
the performance or their work without practice. 
The spider can spin, with the first effort, a web 
as perfect as though he had spent a century in 
practice. The swallows that built nests amid the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 63 

rafters of Noah's ark have made no improvement 
since. The young sparrow with its first effort can 
build a nest so complete that man, with the same 
material furnished, with all his boasted intelli- 
gence, can never improve, though he may endeavor 
to imitate. 

Animals and birds have this unerring instinct 
because they are not susceptible of cultivation, 
otherwise man would be inferior to the rest of cre- 
ation. I know there are examples which show 
that animals can be trained to do a great many 
things ; but this only proves that they would not 
be so useful to man were it not so. If the forego- 
ing scripture is true, why is it true? Was Moses 
inspired to write it? or was he just a little wiser 
than the rest of the men of his day? Some admit 
the latter, but deny the former statement. Well, 
suppose we admit that he knew more than the 
men of his day ? where did he learn it ? Some say 
that he learned it from the Egyptians. Let us in- 
quire into the facts. It is admitted. That he was a 
Hebrew; fact No. 1. That he was educated by 
the Egyptians ; fact No. 2. That he was an adopted 
son in Pharaoh's house ; fact No. 3. That being 
wiser than any of his day, he would have been a 
suitable ruler for the people of Egypt ; fact No. 4. 
That he rebelled against Pharaoh and caused the 



64 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

people to break the yoke of bondage and leave 
that country ; fact No. 5. That he led them across 
the Ked sea into the wilderness of Arabia is, fact 
No. 6. That he never entered the " Land of Prom- 
ise," but died in Horeb ; fact No. 7. That his bio- 
graphy was written by Jews, who love his memory 
still; fact No. 8. That they would have wor- 
shipped him, but, with one exception, he refused 
to take any honor to himself, and it was for this 
(they said) he failed to enter the land of Canaan ; 
fact No. 9. That no one taught him (among the 
Egyptians) the things written by him is evident, 
since they are not found in the records of Egypt ; 
fact No. 10. That concerning the statements here 
quoted from him are true; fact No. 11. That the 
history of the Jewish people to this day demon- 
strates the truth of many other things he said and 
wrote, constitutes fact No. 12. I have here twelve 
facts, which constitute twelve foundations, upon 
which I propose to build a superstructure that 
will endure through the ages. 

I have said this much concerning the history 
and character of Moses in order to show that there 
was, and is, nothing unreasonable in the belief of 
the record he gave. The nature of the fads, and 
credibility of the witness, or witnesses, are beyond 
dispute. Can Infidelity, Scepticism, Liberalism and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 65 

Atheism present testimony cencerning their au- 
thors half SO good? The annals of the world an- 
swer no, yet they say uninspired men wrote the 
Bible. 

Man required just such a world as this. Every- 
thing here is adapted to his wants, as far as they 
have been known. There is but one hindrance to 
the complete felicity of man, and that hindrance 
is death. We hear a great deal from the pulpit of 
to-day that we do not believe, prominent among 
which is the dogma, "That man is totally de- 
praved." I believe man was deprived of but one 
thing, and he is dejjrived of that yet, and that is, 
the power, or ability, to continue to live. In other 
words, he was deprived of the fruit of the tree of 
Life that stood in the midst of the garden of Eden. 
This is the only depravity that man has ever sus- 
tained. The doctrine that man lost that "moral 
image" in the garden, or since that time, is with- 
out any foundation whatever. To take from man 
the moral character which God demanded and still 
demands, when he knows man has not the ability 
to make it, is ascribing to God a disposition infe- 
rior to that x^ossessed by good men. You might 
reply by saying that God deprived man of the 
means of perpetual existence, by taking away from 
him the right "to eat and live forever." Yes, but 



66 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

he did not punish him because he did not live for- 
ever, but because he transgressed his law. 

Man has shown himself susceptible of endless 
development and cultivation. Ages have passed 
by and man is still improving, until, by compari- 
son, the wisdom of any past century would appear 
to be childish nonsense. This is not unreasonable, 
since we have what they taught and learned, besides 
what we have learned in addition to it. 

Concerning the doctrine of man's " total heredi- 
tary depravity," you might refer to the means ap- 
pointed to supplement man's ability, such as the 
Holy Spirit. You might argue that God gave his 
spirit to man to convert him, and to enable him to 
appreciate his words. To admit the former to be 
true would necessitate the latter. To believe that 
God gives his spirit for these purposes and not be- 
lieve in "total depravity," would be very inconsist- 
ent, to say the least of it. 

We leave this part of the controversy, about the 
spirit, for a future chapter of this book. From the 
foregoing arguments and analogies we conclude 
that God did not create the world for animals, or 
birds, or any other creature but man, and that he 
gave him dominion over all. What an exalted po- 
sition for man ! King of the world ! Few men 
realize how much they have to enjoy, and how 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEEI^ 67 

great their responsibility for the manner in which 
they conduct themselves in the use of the things 
so graciously given to us. Suppose a king, seated 
upon his throne, robed in his royal apparel, abus- 
ing ^he privileges of a monarch, claiming to have 
a divine right to use the people and wealth of his 
kingdom to gratify his own base appetites and pas- 
sions. Would not the honor and dignity of his sub- 
jects condemn him? Most assuredly they would. 
Then what should we expect from the unerring 
judgment of a just and dignified God ? We should 
use the blessings and privileges of this life in such 
a way as not to abuse them. 

A great many persons — religious persons, and 
sometimes preachers — in their prayers, say, Lord 
have mercy upon us poor, miserable worms of the 
eartM Now, by comparison the reader can see 
quite a contrast in the real rational view of man's 
position in the world, and the sentimental view of 
the same. It is true that men are inclined to be 
sentimental, and so much of the doctrines are based 
on the poetry (almost wholly sentimental) of the 
Bible, that there exists so much in (so-called) re- 
ligion that is objectionable. This constitutes the 
real reason for so much infidelity, both in, and out 
of, the church. The apostle Paul said " men ought 
to think soberly." If we would use our reason 



68 

more, and our sentimentality less, we would be 
more religions and less fanatical. 

A religion which has fanaticism for its zeal and 
oft-repeated prayers and fasting as an evidence of 
its piety, without doing good to others, would 
bring reproach upon the author. 

We wish to state furthermore in this connection, 
that man was created in the image of God. " Im- 
age" means likeness. But some one would say, 
yes, man was created in the "image of God" mor- 
ally, intellectually. I reply no. If this is the point 
of resemblance, then all animals are created in his 
image, for it is admitted by scientific men that, 
although animals have instinct, they have also a 
degree of intelligence which is necessary to their 
usefulness to man, as before remarked. 

I take the position that man in form is in the 
image of God. I cannot conceive of a formless 
object — "a God without body (form) or parts." Of 
course I do not believe he is a physical, corporeal 
being; but I believe that he is an incorporeal, 
spiritual organism, more glorious than the shining- 
orb of day ; that his sphere is one of eternal glory; 
his person the very embodiment of light and glory. 

For proof of the above position the reader is re- 
ferred to Heb. i : 3 : "Who being the brightness of 
hi^ glory and the express image of his person," 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. (5^ 

etc. Th€ above language was used concerning 
Christ. Does the reader imagine that Christ was 
in the world thirty-three years, associating with 
men who were familiar with his person — the ex- 
press image of his (God's) person without becom- 
ing acquainted with the image of the person of 
God? If Jesus had person, then he represented 
correctly the person of God. Besides this, there 
are numerous other expressions in the Bible like 
the following : "And Adam heard the voice of the 
Lord God walking,''^ etc.-Gen. ii. Here he is repre- 
sented as walking. It is said that he with a high 
hand and strong arm led the children of Israel out 
of Egyptian bondage. Here he is represented as 
having hand and arm. Can it be that he would 
authorize a book which so misrepresents him? 
Again, he is represented as hearing the cries of 
the poor and oppressed. Then he has ears. In 
Isaiah, lxii:2: "The mouth of the Lord shall 
name." Here he is represented as having a mouth 
and speaking. This is quite enough to show con- 
clusively that the old dogma that God* is "without 
body or parts," is as false as the false theories be- 
fore alluded to. 

Then we conclude that man was not only created 
in the image of God, but is still in his image ; oth- 
erwise Jesus was not in his image. I suppose this 



70 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

position will be severely criticised by the orthodox 
ministers everywhere ; bnt I trust that they will 
also criticise the passages of scripture here re- 
ferred to. 

There are a great many religious people who 
take too many things for granted, without once 
thinking it necessary to investigate the subject. I 
not only believe that he (God) has form, but that 
he has a perfect form, as he is perfect in ever^^- 
thing. As the rain-drop is perfect in form by 
reason of the forces which chemically united all 
the particles together, thus forming it, so may the 
origin, or source, of these forces be so formed as to 
exemplify the power and use of the same. I re- 
gard hini as the embodiment of beauty, symmetry, 
power, glory, and perfection. In other words, I 
regard him as the embodiment of perfection in all 
of that in which man is but imperfect. Does the 
reader see anything unreasonable in this view of 
our Creator? Is it not more reasonable, than the 
unreasonable, impossible opinion of a large class 
of fanatics 'who, (like materialists, because they 
cannot see God, deny that he exists,) because some 
one asserted that he created all things out of 
nothing, they have incorporated the same into 
their creed and want to force every one affiliating 
with them to believe the same thing. I cannot 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 7l 

believe that God created the world out of nothing, 
neither can I believe that he created it merely for 
himself, but for man. From the foregoing scrip- 
tures, this view is made not only reasonable, but 
very evident. 

One other fact we desire calling attention to 
just at this stage of the investigation, and that is, 
the fear of man is in everything in which is found 
the breath of life. Moses declared this fact, al- 
•though it required no inspiration to write a thing 
which might have been known twenty-five hun- 
dred years without it, before he wrote it ; never- 
theless it is a fact. This I regard as a very strong 
argument in favor of the position assumed at the 
beginning of this chapter^ Since all animals and 
birds, fishes and insects, from the greatest to the 
least, will flee at the approach of man, it follows 
that he is their (by this) acknowledged king. What 
a wonderful fact ! Who wrote this before Moses ? 

We frequently see large flocks of birds here in 
Texas, flying around among herds of wild horses 
and cattle, lighting upon their necks and backs, 
seeming quite at home in their company; but 
let man put in an appearance and immediately 
they are off. Why is this true ? Moses would say, 
because God has placed the fear of man before 
them all. Perhaps some would suggest that the 
birds were familiar with the stock and not with 
man was the reason of this companionship. But 



72 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

this, will not be borne out by the facts, for men 
have been here for fifty years, and the birds are 
as shy to-day, I suppose, as they were fifty years 
ago. All the theories than the one given by Moses 
fail to solve the problem. 

Intimately associated with this is another fact 
equally important, viz.: That these things, together 
with the entire vegetable and mineral realms are 
very useful to man — just as Moses said they would 
and should be. Behold how extensive the terri- 
tory allotted to man ! All the external evidences 
show that man has dominion over them all. The 
internal evidences, as before alluded to, prove that 
man is a competent ruler over them all. With his 
perception he is able to discover their qualities and 
traits of character ; with his reason he is able to 
adopt plans of domesticating, and with Ms judg- 
ment, utilize them, and with his will, he is able to 
tame the most ferocious beast of the forest. 

Then, let me exciaim, wonderful man! How 
richly thou art endowed ! How noble in reason r 
How infinite in faculty ! In admiration, how like 
an angel ! In apprehension, how like a God ! 

The world was made for thee, 0, man! 

Then wh}' do j^ou loiter so? 
Attend your duty while 3'ou can, 

And on j^our wa}' rejoicing go. 
Treat kind!}' all, your gentle charge, 

And thanks for same please give ; 
And when the account is balanced right, 

He'll take you home with him to live. 



CHAPTER V. 

IVLAN'S RELATION TO NA- 
TURE, TIlVtE, AND 
ETERNITY. 

•And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives and man be- 
came a living soul. " — Gen. it : 7. 

THE subject of this chapter contains a few 
words which should be clearly defined, viz.: 
Nature: the universal store-house of all the par- 
ticles, or atoms comprising the entire system of 
of worlds, together with all the forces necessary to 
govern and control them ; the legitimate parent, 
under God, of all the natural elements in the uni- 
verse, whether they be physical or spiritual. Eter- 
nity: the source of ''time, times, and dividing of 
times ; " the legitimate parent, under God, of all 
divisions concerning time — boundless and endless. 
The first thought to which I desire to call your 
attention is the analogy of Nature and Eternity. As 
the shortest possible division of time is a part of 
eternity, and is indivisible, so the smallest particle 
of this world is a part of nature, and is indivisible. 



74 

As there are great divisions in nature, so there are 
great divisions in eternity, Time : the legitimate 
offspring of eternity. Though it may be but an 
infinitesmal particle of the vast and endless eter- 
nity, yet there are infinitesmal particles of ele- 
ments of this world called atoms, which are a part 
of nature. The terms employed by us and applied 
to the various divisions of time are words used 
merely in an an accommodated sense. To us they 
convey the idea of the revolutions, changes, etc., 
but in reality they are eternity in continual rounds 
of time unceasing. 

Another thought ; as the smallest particle of 
this universe can never be lost — cannot be anni- 
hilated, so the smallest — shortest possible space 
of time can never be lost to eternity, but are in 
both cases conserved. As nature is the receptacle 
of all the elements by decay, absorption, and evapo- 
ration ; so eternity is the receptacle of time when 
it has served its purpose. 

The question to be decided in this chapter is. 
what is man's relation to all these ? That he sus- 
tains a very close relation to nature the most ar- 
dent infidel will admit. Wliy is he a child of 
nature? Because he is a part of nature, and a 
part can never be the nature itself, but a part, so 
man cannot be nature itself. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 75 

It is claimed by deists, that they believe in na- 
ture's God, but deny the God of the Bible. Of 
such I would ask, does not intelligence govern the 
physical elements of this world? You will be 
compelled to answer, yes. Then, according to your 
idea, man is the highest type of intelligence known 
to you. We would then ask, if human intelligence 
governs all these planetary systems we behold 
every day, as they revolve in space at the rate of 
hundreds of miles per minute ? You must say, no ; 
that human intelligence is not capable of govern- 
ing all these. Then we would ask, what power is 
it that does it? Is merely a j)art of nature equal 
in governing power to the whole — all the parts? 
Man is the acknowledged governor of a part ; who 
is the governor of the whole? The parts cannot 
govern the whole. As the human mind governs 
some material objects, who governs human intelli- 
gence ? You tell me it is not controlled. Then I 
shall not die, get sick, nor become poor, nor suffer 
any one else to do so. But, you say, we are crea- 
tures of circumstances, and must succumb. Then 
indeed has man declined, for, according to Mr. 
Haeckel, the little moneron — the origin of man — 
just wagged itself into existence in spite of the cir- 
cumstances, which, by the way, were all against it. 
Just think of it ! A very small speck of '' pure albu- 



76 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

men manifests the first form of life, without any 
sex divides itself under these circumstances. What 
a fine surgeon it must have been ! By this self- 
division it divides its sex. Thus it continued 
under the most adverse circumstances, but we have 
degenerated so far as to become creatures of cir- 
cumstances ! Man is not only a child of nature, 
but is the true and lawful heir; he is "To the 
manor born." This is not only true, but all the 
facts, as far as known to us, show that man has 
invariably '' succeeded himself." Then, since man 
is a part of nature, and as nature never loses any 
of her parts, therefore man is not susceptible of 
annihilation. If there is any force in logic, this 
proposition is eternally established. 

Nature without man would be like a tree with- 
out its fruit; a plant without seed; or a rose 
without its fragrance ; or a house without a roof : 
or virtue without reward. Man is related to na- 
ture in the sense of deriving sustenance from it. 
If man is thus closely related that he constantly 
partakes of it while living, and this supports his 
physical organism, upon what does the mental or- 
ganism of man depend ? Would you answer that 
the same principle obtains concerning man's dual 
organism that we find obtaining among plants; 
for example: two plants of different kinds both 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 77 

deriving their sustenance from the same spot of 
earth, yet one of these bears exceedingly sour, while 
the other may bear sweet fruit. This- may be true, 
but we must take into consideration the fact that 
these plants are of different natures, and while the 
most gentle and amiable of men may derive his 
sustenance from the same source that the gorilla 
does, physically, and yet these creatures act very 
differently. 

I will ask one more question, and I trust that 
sceptics will give it their special attention. Does 
nature, including all the elements of this world, 
contain any element specially adapted to the 
growth and development of man intellectually? 
Should they say yes, I would ask, whence intelli- 
gence? or, why do not all things possess intelli- 
gence? Should they say no, I would ask, how 
long liave these special elements existed? Who 
gave man these elements? Did these elements 
constitute the cause of man's existence ? You must 
say yes, if you advocate the other side of the 
question. Then we maintain that man has existed 
several thousand years, and during all this time 
we have not the slightest intimation that these 
special elements have ever produced of something- 
else a single human being. I leave sceptics to 
work out this problem themselves. 



78 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

Man's relation to time : In a former cliapter I 
attempted to give the views entertained by almost 
all Bible students relative to the chronology of 
the Bible events, creation and the facilities for ob- 
taining correct data. 

The reader will doubtless remember that I 
claimed that the creative days were creative pe- 
riods, and that according to the chronology of the 
Bible Adam lived and associated with Seth sev- 
eral hundred years, and Seth with Methusaleh, 
etc., until we came down to Moses, who wrote an 
account of it. We now ask the reader to allow us 
to introduce and reason upon an interpretation of 
the language of Moses in his mention of these pa- 
triarchs, which, I trust, will disarm the sceptic 
and show the reasonableness of the teaching of 
the Bible. The only difficulty encountered from 
sceptics along here arises from a misinterpretation 
of God's word concerning longevity. When Moses 
wrote this genealogy, longevity was not his subject, 
but according to the interpretation of most men, 
this should have been his one theme. 

Let us suppose, then, instead of longevity, that 
he was discussing the several dynasties that were 
recorded, or descended through tradition. This 
view of the case would harmonize geology and 
the Bible, We give below a tabulated statement 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 79 

showing how easy for man to fall into a very 
common error, as many have done : 

(1) And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, 
and begat a son in his own likeness, after his im- 
age ; and called his name Seth ; and all the days 
of Adam (dynasty) after he begat Seth were eight 
hundred years ; and he begat sons and daughters. 
And all the days that Adam (dynasty) lived were 
nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. 

Seth lived one hundred and five years, and did 
likewise. He begat Enos. And Enos lived ninety 
years, and begat Cainan, and likewise Cainan lived 
seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel, etc. And Ma- 
halaleel lived sixty five years, and begat Jared, etc. 
And Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, 
and he begat Enoch; and Jared (dynasty) lived 
after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and 
begat sons and daughters. And all the days of 
Jared (his dynasty) were nine hundred and sixty 
years; and he died. And Enoch lived sixty five 
years, and begat Methuselah, etc. And Methuse- 
lah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, etc. 

By continuing this table to Abraham, accord- 
ing to the calculation based on dynasties, instead 
of the exceeding great age of the patriarchs, we 
have ten thousand five hundred years, instead of 
two thousand, as our chronologists would have 



80 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

US believe. Thus we have as the greatest age that 
any man lived, was one hundred and eighty-seven 
years — that of Methuserah. 

I am indebted to the Rev. T. P. Crawford, of 
Tung Chow, China, for many of the above facts. 
For many years associated with the Chinese, and 
being familiar with their method of computing- 
time, and a Hebrew scholar, his rare opportunities 
eminently fitted him for this discovery. 

If the reader w^ill examine the record (Gen. v, 
and xi), he will see that in each instance where a 
patriarch's name is introduced, in the language 
that immediately follows the writer gives his age. 
Example: And Adam lived one hundred and thirty 
years. The punctuation shows that the intention 
of the author was to make this, or these, as inde- 
pendent statements, designed to show their ages, 
not at the birth of their sons, first born, etc., else 
why did he not give Adam's age at the birth of 
Cain, or Abel ? But instead of this method he 
proceeds as follows, viz.: ''And Adam knew Eve, 
his wife," etc.-Gen. iv : 1. Perhaps the following 
would be a better rendering ; at least, it will agree 
with the views we have here presented, and also 
with the latest discoveries in science. Here is the 
rendering : And Adam having lived one hundred 
and thirty years, (was succeeded by his son) begat 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 81 

a son in his likeness, etc. The style of the Chinese 
traditions (we are told) exactly corresponds with 
this style of giving their dynasties. Besides this, 
we have an example precisely to the point in the 
case of our Savior when he was raised from the 
dead : " This day have I begotten thee." The Lord 
used this language with reference to Christ be- 
cause he was thus prepared to succeed his Father. 

According to the estimate here presented, the 
average age of the patriarchs was one hundred 
and twenty years, instead of eight hundred, as the 
ordinary estimate has it. This view is based on 
the verb "shall be," in verse 3 of vi Gen.: "And 
the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive 
(dwell) with man, for that he also is flesh (mortal), 
yet his days shall be (have been) one hundred and 
twenty years." The verb in the original text is 
past tense, instead of future. According to this 
idea, we cannot accept the notion that Noah was 
one hundred and twenty years in building the 
ark, but that the language refers to the average 
age of the antediluvians. 

On the other hand, if the patriarchs lived as 
long as the commonly accepted idea of their ages, 
then, I ask, why would the Lord use such language 
as the following with reference to age : The Lord 
said to Abraham : " Thou shalt go to thy fathers 



82 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.''- 
Gen. XV : 15. What did the Loi'd mean by a ''good 
old ageV Gen. xxv : 7-8, will answer the question : 
It is stated that, ''he died in a good old age, an old 
man and full of years!" Concerning Isaac he 
uses similar language. Hear him : ''And the days 
of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years; and 
he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered 
unto his people, being old and full of days.' - 
Gen. XXXV : 28-29. Why would the Lord use such 
language to 'Abraham and Isaac, when neither of 
them lived two hundred years, and yet they were 
OLD and FULL of years? and at the same time ig- 
nore Seth, Enos, Cainan, Methuselah, et al„ whose 
average age was -eight hundred years (provided 
the common idea is true) ? There is no answer to 
this question. I ask the reader, also to read Gen. 
xvii:l7, where the Lord promised Abraham and 
Sarah a son in their old age, and note how un- 
reasonable they thought it. There can be no ex- 
cuse made for the writers of the Old Testament 
for not mentioning the extreme old age of Methu- 
selah (provided he lived nine hundred and sixty- 
nine years) and commenting on it, when he would 
say so much about the ages of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Sarah. 

I know that these points will be criticised and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 83 

controverted, but it is the most satisfactory solu- 
tion of the problem that I know anything about. 
The world has fallen into the habit of thinking 
and acting in grooves ; and where this is the case 
it will be hard to induce the people to accept the 
foregoing reasoning. Suppose this view to be false 
and the old theory true. The facts of the old 
theory will remain; but suppose the old theory 
false and the new true? Why one of the pillars 
in the temple of infidelity is broken completely 
down, and geology is corroborated ; for this makes 
the time from Adam to Abraham, twelve thousand 
^ve hundred years, and from Abraham to Christ, 
two thousand years, and from Christ to the present 
time, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight 
years, making a total of about sixteen thousand 
three hundred and eighty-eight years. This will 
come nearer harmonizing all the theories than any 
other view I have ever seen. Now add to this the 
creative periods, called days of creation, and allow 
one thousand years for each period, and we have the 
number of years the world has existed — twenty- 
two thousand three hundred and eighty-eight. 

Remember, we are attempting only an approxi- 
mate calculation ; we do not assume that it is true 
in every particular. These remarks are intended 



84 THE PAPpR WHEEL, OR 

rather suggestive than otherwise, yet it is the most 
plausible view of the matter we have found. 

Thus we have found that man is not only re- 
lated to nature, but also to eternity, and when the 
ages shall cease their rounds, and when time shall 
by the angel be declared "no more," then man, to- 
gether with all the elements comprising this world, 
will be "gathered home," where we may enjoy the 
fruit of our labor, where we will hear the welcome, 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world."-Matt. xxv : 34. 



CHAPTER VI. 

NIAN'S RELATION TO QOD 
AND SPIRITS. 

VE next come to consider man's relation to 
God and spirits. Just at this particular 
stage of the investigation, the question of Job is 
very appropriate : "What is man that thou (God) 
art mindful of him?" Why is God mindful of us? 
is the question. There seems to be inherently a 
knowledge of this relationship — the fatherhood 
of God. In our hours of deepest sorrow and dis- 
tress, when we are sure that no human skill can 
relieve us, the mind involuntarily turns to God as 
a last resort. We seem to recognize in him the 
power to heal and satisfy. Upon what are these 
hopes based? Is it merely the fact that we pos- 
sess life and intelligence? How did we derive 
this life and this intelligence ? We answer that it 
is because " God breathed into man's nostrils the 
breath of lives, and man became a living soul." 
We are told that there are three kinds of life, 



86 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

viz.: mineral, vegetable and animal, and I will 
take the liberty here to add a fourth — sx^iritual 
life. Now I maintain that since man is able to 
partake of all these kingdoms in their developed 
stages, without being injured by them, that they 
are perfectly adapted to him — that they consti- 
tute a part of his being ; he had the breath (spirit ) 
of all these lives given him in the breath of creation. 
There was no other creature made like him. It 
was not said of any other creature that God 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives 

To the foregoing there can be but one objec- 
tion raised, hence I will argue but one, that is, 
man's spiritual relations. If man possesses a hu- 
man spirit, it must be admitted that he is related 
to spirits of even a higher order ; for if man pos- 
sesses a spirit, he could not create it himself, hence 
the necessity for a creator. Thus you see that the 
whole proposition of spiritual relations rests on 
whether man has, or has not, a human spirit. 

As we have discussed this question at some 
length in the preceding chapters, we will not argue 
this point very elaborately. From the positions 
already taken with reference to man's qualifica- 
tions, we find in him a nature higher than the 
rest of the beings with which we are acquainted. 
In this higher nature of man, we find a substantial 



1 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 87 

energy, which is able to think, reason and calculate. 
This conscious ego looks out upon the entire visible 
creation, and takes cognizance of the forces that 
are even invisible, such as gravitation, magnetism, 
sound, etc., etc. And hence he wrestles with the 
problems of existence, or nonexistence. This con- 
scious ego in man ; this thinking, substantial ener- 
ergy, scrutinizes the works of creation in all its 
vast machinery in the mineral, vegetable and ani- 
mal kingdoms, and in the solar and siderial sys- 
tems. He sees adaptation in everything, and all 
the parts in the aggregate or minutiae, evidently 
designed for the place and purpose it fills, point- 
ing unmistakably to the evidence of design. If 
there is such a thing in nature as a design, there 
must be a designer. If man is regarded wise 
enough to make any discoveries at all, he is cer- 
tainly entitled to a little credit when he claims to 
have discovered design in nature. Had Mr. Greely, 
in his recent arctic exploration, found houses 
farms, and wells or cisterns, would he not have 
concluded that they were evidences of design? 
You answer, yes ; they are all evidences of design. 
Well, since this is true, we ask, are they not also 
evidences of a dedgner? Yes. 

Upon this illustration we wish to present an 
irrefutable argument. Here is the illustration : 



88 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

(a) Intelligent design implies an intelligent 
designer. 

(6) All things in nature present unmistakable 
evidence of intelligent design. 

(e) Therefore the cause of all things in nature 
is an intelligent designer — God. 

Here is the argument : 

(a) In order to think and reason, implies a 
conscious, intelligent creature, possessing moral 
reflection. 

(6) Man thinks and reasons, and possesses moral 
reflection, so that he may be happy or sad. 

(e) Therefore man is a moral, conscious, intelli- 
gent being. 

In the above arguments the conclusion is inevita- 
ble. Below we furnish another argument as con- 
clusive as the above. Let us suppose now that we 
can reduce all the species and classes of substances 
or existences to just two.. We will then style these 
subjective and objective existences. By the sub- 
jective existence, I mean a real thing that acts 
upon an object ; and by the objective existence, I 
mean the object that the subject acts upon. Inert, 
dead matter cannot act — is not capable of action. 
Life can act ; mineral, vegetable and animal life 
can act, but it acts on matter only. Matter in- 
cludes all material substances which, being inac- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 89 

tive, can never be subjective, but objective. This 
view is based on the principle of cause and effect. 
That which produces an effect we call a cause; 
that change of form, or condition, wrought by the 
cause we call an effect. 

Life may change the form or condition of mat- 
ter, and in that sense it is a cause; but life is 
varied in form and kind, and from all the observa- 
tion we have been able to make, it is composed of 
all the forces of nature —a compound of all the 
energizing elements, and made subservient to in- 
telligence, or will. If life were the highest prop- 
erty or element in nature, then all nature has 
failed signally. When we, at the bedside of our 
dying loved ones, behold the traces of death dis- 
tinctly marked', we know we must soon bid them 
adieu. We linger and hover over them, but not 
to catch the last fetid breath, but the words ; we 
would not fail for the world to catch them. We 
cherish the last word that tremblingly lingers on 
those lips as the dearest words that ever greeted 
our ears. Why is this true? Because we involun- 
tarily recognize in man that conscious, moral, in- 
telligent being separate and apart from the cold 
and lifeless form presented to us in death. 

Man, then, possesses those qualifications which 
make him the principal actor in this world be- 



90 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

cause he possesses such a wonderful degree of in- 
telligence. All forms of life enjoy it in common, 
but each according to its own nature. Because 
this is true, it by no means follows that all life is 
the same. We are acquainted with the different 
species of animals, domestic and wild. Although 
these live in the same climate, eat the same food, 
and breathe the same atmosphere, they are unlike 
each other. Why ? Is it because of some peculiar 
circumstance attending their formation in nature ? 
Is it "natural selection?" We think not; other- 
wise we would have natural laws producing simi- 
lar j)hei^oinena now. Then, since we have no 
demonstration of such phenomena now, and since 
the procreative laws in all nature are so well un- 
derstood, we think we would be safe in denying 
that any such thing ever existed. 

We maintain that the nature of each living- 
species, whether it be mineral, vegetable, or animal 
life, was given to it, and all of them, by an intelli- 
gent designer — God. Some objector might say, 
since all things are related to God in the sense 
that he evolved all things from his substantial ex- 
istence, therefore your God is related to even the 
lowest order of life. Let me admit this to be true, 
and still I make out a better case than our ma- 
terialistic friends. They have no God at all, and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 91 

say that man was evolved from the lowest orders 
of life, and therefore man is related to the lower 
animals. Such an objection i^ not well founded. 

From the above reasoning and analogies, w^e are 
prepared to draw the following conclusions, viz.: 
(1) Since material substances act on nothing, they 
are therefore objective. (2) Since material sub- 
stances are acted upon and governed, therefore 
that force which governs them is subjective ; and 
that force is intelligence. (3) Since it is a fact 
that man exercises an influence over other men (as 
mind influencing mind), therefore we conclude 
that the lower forms of life, being ruled by the 
higher (as is admitted by all), are in a measure 
inspired by the in-fluence (flowing in of intelligence) 
exerted upon them, and by the natural principle, 
absorption, they derive all the knowledge they 
have, having imbibed it from their teachers — 
rulers. Since the latter conclusion can never be 
controverted, we conclude, (4) That man has never 
derived his intelligence from the lower forms of 
life, but has received it from the higher forms — 
spiritual life. 

Thus we have seen that man is independent so 
far as this world is concerned, but dependent so far 
as the things which concern his future existence. 
As the lower animals are dependent on the higher 



92 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

— man, so man is dex:)endent on the still higher — 
God. Hence the relation of man to spirits. As 
the j)hysical, material bodies are all related in 
kind, not in form, so all spiritual, immaterial 
bodies, or organisms, are related, the highest form 
of which is God. By this relation we are enabled 
to understand how every act of ours is remembered. 

In order to prove this, it will be necessaiy to re- 
fer you to the diagram. We will suppose that all 
of nature is embraced within the outer circle, or 
rim of the wheel ; this includes all the systems 
operated by the forces of nature, as well as all the 
divisions of eternity. As all the water in a basin, 
or even the ocean, is so closely related as to be 
perfectly joined together, so it is with all the kin- 
dred elements in nature. 

We will use two illustrations to enforce this 
truth: (1) A basin may be filled with water so 
that it cannot contain one more drop without run- 
ning over. Then drop a pebble just the size of 
one drop of water, and immediately the basin is 
overrun, not because the pebble displaced the last 
drop, but because it displaced every drop in the 
basin. The same may be said of the ocean. Now, 
the action of this pebble affected every drop in 
the basin. (2) We understand man to be a com- 
plete system of bones, sinews, organs, veins, arteries, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 98 

etc., etc. By possessing all these, lie is a complete 
illustration of the vast machinery of nature. Now 
let us look at man as an organism : He seems to 
he asleep ; but take this sharp-pointed instrument 
and place the point to the very extremities — the 
foot, and immediately he recognizes it and sliows 
it by his movements. Why ? You will answer, no 
doubt, because man possesses sensibility. Yes, but 
where did he get this sensibility? You will doubt- 
less reply that he obtained it from nature. Very 
good ? but where did nature get it ? Did it manu- 
facture it? You will perhaps answer, yes. Very^ 
well. Then, since nature is a great economist, it 
gave no more to man than he required ; it is rea- 
sonable to suppose that it still retains a reasonable 
share of that important factor, and therefore by 
either one of these illustrations we may under- 
stand how our acts are recorded in the face of na- 
ture. So, of the best arguments our materialistic 
friends can make we predicate our arguments and 
turn them against their authors. 

While these illustrations are on our minds, let 
us suppose that man commits an offense against 
the State; does it not affect the dignity of the 
whole State ? Suppose his offense is of such a na- 
ture as to affect the character and standing of his 
neighbor in such a way that he may be seriously 



94 THE PAPER WHEKL, OK 

injured, without any means of redress; will not 
this act affect the moral status of more than one ? 
Perhaps you will answer yes, but it is not uni- 
versal. True, but w^e are not as sensitive on a 
question of this kind as we are w^hen the sharp- 
pointed instrument presses against our flesh : be- 
cause we are not directly interested. 

But let's take a short stroll. Behold that ele- 
gant mansion ! We walk up to the gate ; t<^) the 
latch is bound black crape. What does it mean ? 
You will answer, it is a badge of mourning. We 
walk in, and on the door-knob we find more crape : 
we hear sobs within ; we enter thinking we may 
be able to console them. On examination, we find 
as the sufferer a beautiful young girl with stream- 
ing eyes, swollen cheeks and disheveled hair, 
wringing her hands in utter despair. It is the 
same old story of wrong. You want to comfort 
her, but you feel so indignant you think, well, if 
she were a daughter, or a sister of mine, I would 
follow him who did the crime, and he should pay 
the penalty with his life ! Here is a family in 
tears on account of an act which affected their 
character. The sympathy of family and friends is 
natural, on account of the affinity existing between 
them. 

Then, we make this inquiry : Since this affinity 



THE EVOIAfTION OF A SEED. 95 

exists in all nature in its normal state, will not a 
crime like this impress itself upon the very face 
as it were, of all the moral elements in nature? 
And thus our crimes are charged against us in a 
truly natural way, and we could have avoided 
them if we had tried. We furthermore see that 
sensibility exists in the moral as well as the phusi- 
eal world. 

Before concluding this chapter, I will attempt 
to answer some of the objections to the foregoing 
position : ° 

Objection 1. If the laws of nature and God are 
so fixed, morally speaking, that our very thoughts 
and deeds are naturally recorded; that we must 
suffer the penalty; how can we reasonably expect 
to be pardoned or forgiven ? 

Objection 2. Will not such a position as yours 
dispense with the necessity for a creator? 
Objection 3. Your position is too rationalistic 
I will try to answer the objector in such a way 
that the position may be sustained to the satisfac- 
tion of materialists as well as our orthodox friends 
Objection 1. In the fixed laws of nature is the 
immutability of God demonstrated. As an illustra- 
tion, take Ezekiel, xvii : 21-24 : "But if the wicked 
will turn from his sins that lie hath committed 
and keep all my statutes, and do that whicli is 



96 THE PAPKR WHEEL, OR 

lawful and right, he shall surely live. All his 
transgressions that he hath (committed, they shall 
not be mentioned unto him; in his righteousness 
that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleas- 
ure at all that the wicked should die, saith the 
Lord God ; and not that he should return from his 
ways and live? But when the righteous turneth 
away from his righteousness, and doeth ac^ordnig 
to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, 
shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath 
done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that 
he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath 
sinned, in them shall he die." Take another: 
Isaiah, Iv : 7: " Let the wicked foi-sake his way, and 
the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, who will have mercy upon him ; 
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 

The above scriptures show conclusively that the 
rio-hteous are liable to turn from their righteous- 
n^ss and the wicked are also able and liable to turn 
away from their wickedness and do that which is 
right. Man may therefore change his condition. 

but God, never. 

Take another example: Matt, xviii: 23-35. In 
this we have a beautiful illustration of God's im- 
mutability, since that human lord made his ser- 
vant, whom he had forgiven much, pay him all of 



THE EVOLTTTTON OF A SEED. 97 

the debt because he had not treated his fellow- 
servant right. Verse 35 says: "So likewise shall 
my Heavenly Father do also unto yon ; if ye from 
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their 
trespasses." So we see that the changes in man's 
condition were brought about by his own conduct. 

God's moral laws are as fixed as his physical 
laws. Hence when he says, "no murderer hath 
eternal life abiding in him ;" he means as long as 
that man is a murderer, or has the disposition to 
murder, he cannot have eternal life. We take an 
example from nature : Fire will burn ; Ave know it 
or not, as the case may be — it is all the same to 
us ; if we put our hand into it we are sure to be 
burned. This act of ours would be a violation of 
what we call natural law — physical law, and we 
are burned as a penalty ; but we turn to nature 
and ask a remedy for our burns, and immediately 
we are supplied. We are bitten by a venomous 
reptile ; our blood becomes saturated with poison. 
We again ask nature for a remedy ; again we are 
supplied. If we have been doing wrong, we are 
imposing on our better natures. If we wish to be 
pardoned, we must turn away from this wrong 
and do right and be healed. Vice poisons the 
soul; righteousness is the antidote. 

Objection 2. No ; if our position is true, we need 
a good, wise and powerful God as much as tliough 



98 THE PAPER WHEEL. 

the opposite were true. Would there not be a?» 
much glory in making and putting in operation 
certain fixed laws to operate all the various ele- 
ments therein contained as there would be were 
he to operate them in person. The same objection 
might be urged against hundreds, and thousands 
of farmers who do not labor on the farm, yet they 
have it done and derive a revenue from it. You 
might say of him, we can do without you, sir ; we 
can run your business without you ; we therefore 
can dispense with you. But I suppose he would 
say, this is my farm and you are a traitor. 

Objection 3. No, it is not too rationalistic, for no 
man should be required to believe an unreasona 
ble statement. If I did not believe the Bible was 
a reasonable book I would reject it ; but I fully 
and sincerely believe that every statement of in- 
spired men can be fully sustained by science, when 
both are correctly understood. 

Thus we have been able to see how man, a moral 
being, is sensitive morally speaking, and he is the 
only creature on earth that possesses a moral na- 
ture ; and being thus endowed, he is a responsible 
being ; and as he cannot be responsible to himself, 
for he would justify himself; he cannot be re- 
sponsible to his fellows, for they would be biased 
— -prejudiced; therefore he must be responsible 
to God. 



CHAPTER VII. 
MAN'S RELATION TO EVIL. 

•' I form light and create darkness ; I make peace, and create 
EVIL ; I, the Lord, do all these things. — Isa. xly:7. 

'• Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done 
it? "—Amos. iii:6. 

THE above scriptures are evidently designed to 
inform man of the origin of evil. The ques- 
tion as to whether or not, there is such a thing as 
evil, has been a subject of discussion for many 
centuries. In discussing this subject, I dare not 
promise the public anything new in the way of 
argument or fact, but hope to reason correctly as 
far as we are able, with the best lights we can 
have before us. 

Admitting that man is a moral being, we cannot 
deny the existence of evil. Where there is no 
moral restraint there can be no evil. This moral 
restraint implies moral government. Moral gov- 
ernment is of two kinds, viz.: subjective and ob- 
jective. By subjective, I mean the means of govern- 



100 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

ment that are inherent. By objective, I mean the 
law containing the principles of government con- 
trolling the actions of the governed. In the ab- 
sence of this restraint, or government, we would 
have no evil, but since we have the restraint, we 
have the evil, and vice versa. 

Lest there should be some who still deny the 
existence of evil, we will present a few arguments 
in favor of the affirmative. In doing this, however. 
I will first ask the reader to apply the above prin- 
ciples to man as a suitable character to illustrate 
and demonstrate the subject. 

We wish to inquire first if man possesses that 
restraint inherently ? If he does, the actions and 
emotions will as certainly disclose it, as a tree may 
be known by its fruit. From the position main- 
tained and established in the preceding chapter, 
namely: that man recognized his own responsibility 
to himself, or some one else ; this responsibility is 
confessedly moral. Man does not require from 
the lower animals any responsibility of a moral 
character, but merely physical, or mechanical obe- 
dience, but he requires his children to be in moral 
subjection, not as a tyrant, but as an afl'ectionate 
parent having the good of his child, and his own 
peace in view. 

Every evil is not a sin, but every sin (trans- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 101 

gression of law) is an evil committed, or executed. 
We will consider evil from two standpoints : (1), 
From that of the author. The above passages of 
scripture show very clearly that God is the author 
of it. I know persons who bitterly deny this 
statement, but they do not know that it is in the 
Bible; and were they shown that it was, they 
would want to put a spiritual construction on it, 
or make it out one of those figurative passages' 
Let us be fair and candid. Evil, as we understand, 
is an entity— a substantial existence. It is, in an 
undeveloped stage, a component part of good. Why 
is this true? We answer, because good is normal, 
while evil is abnormal. Health is good; sickness 
is bad. Righteousness (right being, or doing) is 
good, while unrighteousness is wrong. These are 
opposites. 

God, then, is the author of undeveloped evil in 
the same sense that he is the author of sickness, or 
disease. Disease exists as an entity, but must' be 
developed in order to be appreciated. Taking this 
view of the subject, we can see how God can be 
the author of evil, and not the author of sin, since 
sin grows out of our own acts. He is the author 
of heat, steam, artificial light, etc., but man de- 
velops them. 

(2), From man's standpoint. Man, as an opera- 



102 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

tor, is, and always has been, capable of developing 
the different branches of science and art, as well 
as the above-mentioned forces, and, as we have be- 
fore shown, that man possessed certain inherent 
laws, such as love, hate, etc., involving his desire 
to live, to become rich, great, etc. This desire, 
originating in man, is developed by observation, or 
experience, and is legitimate and right when exer- 
cised in a degree in which he will not injure him- 
self or others. But as man has not been celebrated 
for his wonderful wisdom and foresight, it is now, 
and always has been necessary that he should have 
a standard of right and wrong, clearly defining 
both. This standard is the Bible. This book 
clearly teaches man his position as ruler over the 
other beings, or creatures of this world, and also 
sets a limit to the exercise of his appetites, pas- 
sions, etc. God not only governs our appetites, 
but seeks to govern our loftiest energies and ambi- 
tions. He ordained that man should have one 
wife, but man wanted two. He ordained that 
. man should have one God, but man wanted two. 
He ordained that man should have property, but 
. each man wants the whole earth. I mention all 
this in order to show the necessity for a correct 
standard governing man's wants, or desires. 

By what process is evil developed? Let the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 103 

apostle James, answer : '' But every man is tempted 
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. 
Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth 
Bin, and sin, when it is finished (completed its 
work) bringeth forth rfeatt.'-Jas. i : 14-15. Here 
we have a correct theory of the origin of sin. 
Man's desire becomes lust (which is unlawful de- 
sire) when exercised beyond the limits given him 
in the law. When we covet the property belong- 
ing to another, we may be assured that our desire 
has assumed an abnormal condition (conceived), 
and when we proceed to gratify that unlawful de- 
sire we commit sin (violate the law). Then should 
we continue in sin, allowing it to rule our lives, 
we may expect nothing but death (separation) in 
the end. God has provided for the enjoyment and 
happiness of every being in the universe, and has 
given laws involving pains and penalties in case 
of violation. This he does because he desires, or 
wills man's happiness. 

If our position in the above is correct (and we 
believe it is), in order to destroy evil we would 
have to destroy one of the laws of our being, which 
would make us less than human. We sometimes 
get wise above what is written, and sometimes 
more righteous (?) than our Lord. Man's pilgrim- 
age in this world is one continued school of ob- 



104 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

servation and experience, in which he has almost 
all sorts of teachers. 

In the divine economy, provision has been made 
for man's development morally and intellectually. 
In order to accomplish this, God gave man such 
faculties and organs as, when j)roperly cultivated, 
will yield to him the greatest amount of happi- 
ness; but when exercised or indulged to excess, 
or in such a manner that the comfort and hap- 
piness of others are affected, it becomes sin. That 
which is adapted to our wants is most potent 
in developing man. But while this is true, we 
must admit that this would prove the greatest 
temptation to man ; e. g., we use money as a circu- 
lating medium with which to pay for the things 
we enjoy. When we are accustomed to have every- 
thing we wish we seem to care less for money, but 
when the money is gone we fail to enjoy the good 
things to which we have become accustomed, our 
minds immediately turn upon money a8 the means 
of such enjoyment, and would require, in some in- 
stances, considerable courage to resist the tempta- 
tion afforded us of appropriating this means to 
our own pleasure. This would be wrong. Infidel 
lawyers would prosecute a man for doing this, 
though they might contend that there was abso- 
lutely no evil under the sun. Thus we are by this 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 105 

example brought to consider what the apostle Paul 
styles the root of all evil. ''For the love of money 
is the root of all eviL"-l Tim. vi : 10. 

There are other things which are enjoyed by 
man which we think are wrong in themselves, but 
perhaps were we to investigate closely we would 
find that the love of money was involved in them. 
By "the root of all evil" here alluded to, I under- 
stand the apostle to mean the cause of all the force 
in man that develops evil. This love of money may 
be cultivated to such an extent that we may be 
made robbers, or even murderers. Money not only 
secures to us the enjoyment of our appetites, but 
is used also to secure to us, social, political, and 
(in some instances) religious preferment. When 
power or influence is thus secured to us, it is only 
a question of time when it will be fully known 
that it was not attained by our merit or superior 
qualifications, but by fraud, resulting in disgrace 
aud reproach to us and the cause that placed us 
there. Thus have families or other social assem- 
blies been broken up through such agency. Not 
only so, but churches, republics, empires and king- 
doms have been broken up through, or by the love 
of money. Notwithstanding such sad results are 
sometimes realized, we should not be so foolish as 
to condemn the money. What is here said of 



106 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

money might be said of a great many other things 
we have and enjoy. 

We give another illustration of man's relation 
to evil : (1) As a creature he is expected to operate 
under certain conditions and directions. (2) He 
is expected to do a certain amount of work. (3) 
He is capacitated to do that amount of work. 
The conditions are the situations and surround- 
ings in this life, and the directions are those given 
him in the Bible, consistent with his reason. 

Here is the illustration with its probable results : 
Here is a machine complete in every respect. It 
has a boiler, engine, pump, valves, etc. Just out 
here at a convenient distance is a reservoir, suffi- 
cient quantity of wood, and some fire. A gentle- 
man approaches ; he is the engineer. He fills the 
boiler to a certain gauge with water; he next 
builds a fire. Presently we discover the steam ris- 
ing ; the machinery begins to work. Should that 
engineer (representing our will) keep i\\?ii furnace 
(our propensities), regulated with the proper /we/ 
(food — mental and physical), the ma-chine (man) 
will be a success. But let us suppose that he is 
careless, and when he gets the boiler filled with 
water he will put in a few barrels of giant pow- 
der, some glycerine, dynamite, etc., what would be 
the result ? The newspapers would probably pub- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 107 

lish the next day an account of an explosion, and 
attribute it to indiscretion, insanity, or something 
of the kind. 

The man is presided over by his intellect, in- 
cluding, as the greatest force, his will —volition. 
God made him responsible for his own well-being, 
physically, intellectually and morally, just as the 
owner of the machine will hold the engineer re- 
sponsible for the well-being of the machine. Every 
man who lives to mature age involuntarily — na- 
turally — becomes morally responsible for himself. 
His body is no more capable of answering for an 
offense than could the machine in the illustration 
be responsible for an explosion under the above- 
described circumstances. 

By this view of the case we can see that God can 
be the author of evil, indirectly, or in the same sense 
that he is the author of any other good, or evil 
thing, such as steam, steamboats, electric light, 
telegraphy, the telephone, etc., etc. He is the au- 
thor of the material and forces necessary to de- 
velop and operate them ; but in giving to man the 
capacity to do good, he also endowed him with 
the power to do wrong. To take away from man 
the power to do wrong, would to that extent rob 
him of the power to do right No man has a hu- 



108 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

man or divine right to do wrong, tliongli all may 
possess the power to do it. 

Thus we have seen that man is related to evil 
as the direct author of it in the sense that he de- 
velops it, first in his mind— heart— and next in 
his actions, and finally, in its consequences. 

We are taught that ideas are mental pictures. 
As the idea is conceived in the mind and developed 
by a mental process, so is evil. A mental picture 
of it is drawn on the canvas of the mind by that 
wonderful artist, imagination. Judgment, another 
faculty, is invited to step up and view it. The 
will then determines the matter by doing, or not 
doing, as the case may be. What a fearful re- 
sponsibility for man! "Who can bear it?'' In 
this world of realism and materialism, Christianity 
and infidelity, intelligence and ignorance, success 
and failure, happiness and misery, etc., etc. Amid 
all these, and many more conflicting elements, how 
important that we ''possess our souls!' 

We then conclude that man, by his actions, is 
the direct author of evil among us, while God is 
the indirect author of it. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
NIAN LOST. 

•'For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost." — 
Matt. x^^iii:2. 

•'For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world 
and Jose his oiru soul? or what shall a man give in exchange 
for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of 
his Father with his angels ; and then shall he reward ever}^ 
man according to his works." — Matt. xvi:26-27. 

THE above scriptures, if true, present to our 
mind a subject than which, I suppose, there 
is none more serious. If they are untrue, then the 
Bible contains a paragraph than which there is 
none in the world more foolish. Which position 
shall we accepts If we accept the former, do our 
actions indicate it i Are we consistent enough to 
manifest it in our lives by the interest we take on 
behalf of ourselves and others who Avould know 
the truth? If we accept the latter, do we from 
the depth of our hearts, at all times believe it? 
Are there not times we seem to know this is no 
"idle tale?" 



110 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

In order to appreciate thci above scriptures, it 
will be necessary for some, to have a clear and cor- 
rect definition of some of the terms in the sen- 
tences. Before doing this, however, it will be 
ne^cessary to give a brief analysis of man, in order 
that we may know what part of the man is the soul, 
and just how it may be lost. 

We believe that the best evidence we have, justi- 
fies the doctrine that man is a triune being ; thr)ugh 
it seems hard to convince the world that there 
exists in man three persons, entities, or substances. 
as constituting one complete human organism. 
While I do not pro^^ose to be dogmatic in requir- 
ing others to believe wliat I do, yet I think a cor- 
rect understanding of this subject is necessary to 
a loroper apiDreciation of it. 

Briefly stated, man is composed of (1) body — 
physical organism ; (2) spirit — spiritual organism : 
(3) sold — moral organism. These express three 
relations, separate and distinct from each other. 
Man is physically related to the nature and char- 
acter of the physical elements of the world. He 
is spiritually related to the nature of God, possess- 
ing so much of the divine nature as to constitute 
him a human being. He is related to God morally, 
by having received the impress of the moral char- 
acter of Jehovah. 



THK KVOLTTTION OF A SEED. Ill 

When mean was created he was without the di- 
vine nature or character, being related only to the 
physical world. But, after receiving the breath 
(spirit) of lives, he became related to God. There- 
fore when he died his body was restored to the 
physical elements, and we are assured that his 
spirit will be restored to him in the resurrection. 
Hence he will not lose it, for Jesus said: "Marvel 
not at this ; for the hour is coming in the which 
all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, 
and shall come forth ; they that have done good, 
to the resurrection of life; and they that have 
done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.' -John, 
v: 28-29. We are again told that "the dust shall 
return to tlie earth as it was ; and the spirit to 
God who gave it.'-Eccl. xii : 7. 

In the above passage of scripture we not only 
learn that the body returns to the earth, but that 
the spirit returns to God who gave it. He does 
not say that a difl'erent spirit, or a saved spirit, 
lost Spirit, etc., but the spirit, his spirit, etc., etc. 
We have furthermore learned that man will not 
lose his spiritual organism, for that returns to 
God. Hence we reason, that his spiritual organism 
is his peculiar nature which constitutes him a human 
being. Siuce neither of these organisms can, in 
the nature of tlnngs, b(^ lost, it follows as a natural, 



■J J 2 THK PAl'KR WHKEL, OR 

logical conolusion that neither of these orgnanisms 
is the soul, for it can be lost. 

This leads us to inquire what the, soul is. We 
assume that man, in the beginning, possessed the 
two organism above alluded to, and that by the 
union of these two a third is desigiied to be de- 
veloped, viz.: moral organism. The inherent en- 
vironments in man are favorable for a wonderful 
growth in moral development. This moral organ- 
ism is the seed of the divine character in earthen 
veesels, with instructions to enable us to improve 
and devdop it. Not only so, but we are told that 
unless we do, we will be cast out in the last day. 
We then inquire if man can lose that moral organ- 
? You will answer that he can lose his moral 



ism 



character here. Then, since he can lose this here, 
how does he lose it? Answer, by his own conduct. 
We next ask: Would this cause him to lose his 
individual, or personal identity ; We answer, no. 
His individuality — spiritual organism — and his 
personal identity— physical organism — will re- 
main the same through eternity. But some one 
would object and say: That is contrary to the 
scriptures; do they not teach that "our vile body 
shall be changed and fashioned like unto his glori- 
ous body?" Yes, but how is it to be changed? 
Hear Paul in his epistle to the church at Corinth: 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 118 

"And when this mortal shall put on immortality, 
and this corruptible shall put on incorruption," 
etc.-(See 1 Cor. xv: 51-54.) The apostle again 
says: "For we know that if our earthly house of 
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens.' -2 Cor. v : 1. So you observe that the 
change to be affected in the body will be to glorify 
it — immortalize it — to clothe it with immortality. 

But perhaps some one is anxious, just at this 
point, to ask if all the bodies raised will be im- 
mortal? We believe they will. You will perhaps 
conclude that I am a Universalist, but I am noth- 
ing of the kind. Because a man is raised from 
the dead, by no means proves that he will be 
eternally happy. For one to be incapable of suf- 
fering would necessarily imply that he was also 
incapable of joy, or happiness. Therefore if to be 
raised immortal would exempt the wicked from 
suffering for their sins in this life, then the right- 
eous, when raised immortal, will be incapable of 
the joy and happiness of redeemed souls. 

Having, as I think, settled this part of the con- 
troversy, and having shown that man would lose 
no part of his body in his resurrection, and that 
his spirit would return to God who gave it, we are 



114 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

prepared to proceed to notice at length the last 
feature — the soul. 

We have already assumed the position that the 
soul was man's moral organism. We furthermore 
deny that there is any moral organism in animals, 
birds or insects. That in babes, or the first beings 
of our race, what we term the soul consisted of the 
latent faculties of this moral organism. These fac- 
ulties required exercise in order to be developed ; 
hence God gave us a moral government in order 
to awaken the moral emotions and sensibilities of 
our being, and thus make us useful morally as 
well as socially. Then man is responsible to God 
for all his moral obligations in this life. In being 
responsible to God is implied the forfeiture of all 
the blessings of the future world, and also the as- 
surance that the guilty will have to suffer the 
XJenalty of violated law. This forfeiture of bless- 
ings implies the loss of our natural, inalienable 
right to that everlasting inheritance reserved for 
those who "love his ax^pearing.'' 

Let us further quote from the text : " Wliat 
shall a mail give in exchange for his soulT' This 
language implies that the soul is lost, and asks, 
what shall a man give in exchange for his (own) 
soul. His soul is gone, and the inquiry is not, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 1 1 5 

what a man Avonld bo willing to give in exchange 
for his soul, bnt what shall he give? What has 
he to offer for the redemption of his soul ? Though 
he may possess the entire world, it does not con- 
tain one single object, nor would all the combined 
worth of all the objects of this world constitute 
an acceptable ransom for man. God had at his 
command all these things before his Son came into 
the world, and could have sacrificed them for man, 
but man is not to be redeemed with (X)rruptible 
things, such as gold or silver, etc., but with inno- 
cent blood — the blood of Christ. God accepted 
Christ as our surety. His life was given for the 
life of the world ; hence we owe our allegiance to 
him. We are bought with a i3rice, even the pre- 
cious blood of Christ. Hence we feel that when 
we fail to comply with that form of moral govern- 
ment he has given us, we lose our rights to the 
inheritance of this government, and our moral 
character is gone. This moral organism we have 
before stated is the seed or the character of God — 
seed of divine character. The cultivation and de- 
velopment of this character is the cultivation of a 
seed from a human standpoint. 

We are then under obligations to cultivate this 
seed, or it will be required at our hands. We are 
under obligations, first, to God as the author of 



116 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

our being ; secondly^ to Christ who redeemed us ; 
in the third place, to the church of Christ, as an 
organized body of his disciples for the perpetua- 
tion of this morality in the earth ; in the fourth 
place, to society at large ; in the fifth place, to our 
families. Man cannot afford to act immorally be- 
fore his family without realizing the danger, not 
only of losing his own soul, but also of leading 
others astray. In the sixth place he is responsible, 
or under obligations to himself for his own safety 
and happiness. Were it a matter of finances — if 
our happiness in the future depended on the paj- 
ment in cash of a certain amount of money, we 
would begin to lay up a certain amount each day 
till we could say, now I can go any time ; I am 
prepared to go ; I have the required amount. But 
our salvation is offered to us without money and 
without price — simply by doing right. 

But from the positions assumed and conclusions 
which necessarily follow the above deductions, the 
reader will see that I am not in line with many 
writers on the subject of the human soul; some 
taking the position that it is life only, without de- 
fining what kind of life ; others that it is the blood ; 
while others assume that it is the mind, in contra- 
distinction to the spirit, etc., while mine may be 
briefly stated as comprehending man's moral exist- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 117 

ence, which includes a i^art of the living organism 
— human life. 

But after even admitting the above to be true, 
the thoughtful reader would naturally inquire: 
(1) What becomes of the man whose soul — moral 
organism — has been lost? (2) Will he still be im- 
mortal, and yet be lost ? As to the first question, 
we will let Paul answer : "And to you that are 
troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall 
be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know (acknowledge) not God, and obey not the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be pun- 
ished with everlasting destruction from the pres- 
ence of God and the glory of his power.' -2 Thess. 
1:7-10. 

The above scripture not only teaches that the 
wicked will be punished /row the presence of God, 
but also that the punishment is to be everlasting. 
The persons against whom the Lord has thus 
threatened are lost souls. Perhaps some Univer- 
salist is ready to object by saying that the phrase 
everlasting punishment means only age-lasting 
punishment. Suppose it does ! Universalism will 
not be relieved any by it, for many men die here 
without suffering for the acts of this life ; there- 
fore the language cannot refer to this age. To 



118 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

assert that man suffered enough between death 
and the resurrection, would be to deny the judg- 
ment of the wicked and triumph of the righteous 
at the second coming of Christ and the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. Therefore, it cannot refer to the 
intermediate age. Then, as the wicked dead will 
not be raised till after the millennium, and as the 
living wicked only will be on the earth during this 
age, therefore the punishment here alluded to by 
the apostle refers to another age than this, for it 
includes "all those who know not God and obey 
not the gospel." Then, as there is but one age fu- 
ture from the millennium, we conclude that it is 
that age — the eternal age. Therefore, as their 
punishment is to be age-lasting, and it takes place 
in that age, we logically conclude that it is eternal 
punishment : " from the presence of God." By this 
phraseology we are not to understand God will not 
be present in some sense. Take as an example our 
first parents ; they were banished out of the gar- 
den of Eden from the presence of the Lord.-Gen. 
iii. "And they hid themselves from the presence 
of the Lord." This evidently means either per- 
sonal, or providential presence of God. He was 
personally present no longer with them, although 
he provided for them ; yet he told them to provide 
for themselves, eating their bread in the sweat of 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 119 

their face. God also taught them how to make 
clothes of the skins of animals. 

Take another passage of scripture concerning 
the same time and events : " Then shall the King 
say to those on the left hand, depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil 
and his angels, for I never knew you."-Matt. xxv: 
31, 41-46. This locates the age in which man is 
to receive such a sentence, after death and resur- 
rection ; and also the place where he will be pun- 
ished, not in a place for man, but in a place 
"prepared for the devil and his angels/' This place, 
dear reader, is the one which has been represented 
as having no bottom to it. Hear what the demons 
say about it themselves. The man coming out of 
the tombs met Jesus and said to him, " What have 
we to do with thee ? Why hast thou come to tor- 
ment us before the time ? And they besought him 
that he would not command them to go out into the 
deep.'' (See Luke, vii : 31; Mark v, and Matt, viii.) 

There are two thoughts in this connection which 
will help us decide this question. The first is, 
that the demons admit that there will be a time 
when they will have to submit to him ; when they 
will be punished ; and a place (the deep) where 
they will be made to suffer, or endure, the penalty 
of a violated law, and a pure, moral government. 



120 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

We also learn that the "Angels (which became 
demons) that sinned are bound in chains of dark- 
ness to the last day (age) to be punished .-( See 2 
Pet. ii ; Jude, also.) The word deep here signifies 
bottomless depth. It is true, it would be hard to 
conceive of a place which had no bottom, but 
if scientists were to undertake to teach you the 
original chaotic state of this world, they would 
describe this bottomless dei^th. When, therefore, 
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and all 
the physical objects shall be dissolved, there will 
be in this sphere, where the beautiful i^lanets 
shine in their splendor, a bottomless depth, just as 
it was before. We then conclude that the ''deep" is 
a place like this, somewhere outside of the habita- 
ble parts, beyond the confines of God's mercy, 
benevolence and providence. 

Second question : Yes ; he could not be mortal 
and endure the suffering that he is threatened 
with. To be immortal is to be capable of eternal 
existence without change of nature ; hence these per- 
sons will be capacitated to endure an eternity 
without change of nature, otherwise devils might 
be converted. 

But Universalists say that God will give man a 
chance after this life. Then this would place him 
under the necessity of giving the demons the same 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 121 

opportunity. Perhaps one would say that he does, 
but devils refuse to avail themselves of the offer. 
Very well, then, if he punishes demons for disobe- 
dience in this life, and for neglect in the next, he 
will treat man in the same way, for he is no re- 
specter of persons. Then man may be lost, not on 
account of any arbitrary rule of God's government, 
but his own choice. 



CHAPTER IX. 
MAN REDEEMED. 

"And that he might reconcile both (Jews and Gentiles) unto 
God in one hoQ\y b}^ the cross, having slain the enmit}" thereb)'." 
— Eph. ii:16. 

" For ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorif}* God in 
your bod}^ and in your spirit, which are God's." — 1 Cor. vi:20. 

" Husbands, love 3^our wives, even as Christ also loved the 
church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctif}' and 
cleanse it, with the washing of water b}' the word." — Eph. v: 
25-26. 

I HAVE selected the above passages of scripture 
in order that I might be able to embody the 
entire scope of this subject in my text. The first 
passage teaches us that we are designed to be 
reconciled to God in one body. The second teaches 
that in order to do this, he bought us. The third 
teaches how we are cleansed, etc. 

I will therefore treat the subject under these 
heads: First, Reconciliation; second, Redeemed; 
third, Cleansed. 

Reconciliation implies previous estrangement. 
It further more involves three other questions, viz.: 
How reconciled, when, and where. By believing 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 128 

the Bible account of man's estrangement, the task 
is easy ; but on account of the incredulity of some, 
it becomes a hard task. Let us take a retrospective 
view of the human family. While our first pa- 
rents were obedient they were in a state of recon- 
ciliation, but they disobeyed, and thereby forfeited 
their right to the tree of life, as well as the other 
privileges of the garden of Eden. 

It was in that, that man became estranged. Man 
departed from God, and not God from man. But 
since man has proved himself recreant to the trust 
reposed in him, and since on account of the fact 
that he had been driven from the presence of God, 
it cannot be expected of him to return of himself, 
for in all the civilized world men recognize in each 
other their liability to prejudice where there is a 
want of agreement. Hence in the scheme of re- 
demption God has employed a mediator, in order 
that a satisfactory reconciliation might be effected 
between man the offender, and God the offended. 
If I should have a disagreement with another man 
concerning a matter of vital importance, and it 
were discovered that I was in the fault, I could 
not be expected to arrange a settlement without 
employing a mediator, otherwise my efforts would 
be regarded as an intention to get the advantage. 
Again in selecting this arbitrator, or mediator 



124 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

(which is the same), I should be careful and select 
a man against whom no charge can be brought, 
lest after the settlement is made the parties should 
say, " I knew he was not right ; I have been de- 
frauded," etc., as is often the case among men. • All 
the care and caution that could possibly exist 
among men, certainly existed with God first ; hence 
in our action in this matter we pattern after the 
divine model. This being true, we next inquire if 
the world could have produced a man that could 
have satisfied the demands of the human family^ 
We answer, no ; because if the most righteous per- 
son that has at any time lived on the earth had 
been selected, men would have objected to it on 
the ground that it was a human scheme with a 
human mediator, and therefore can have only a 
human value ; but an infidel will rise up and say, 
not so, provided he is righteous. Let us see if he 
does not condemn himself. Will you please an- 
swer a few questions? Are you a member of the 
church? "No." Why? "I don't believe your Bi- 
ble." Why? "Because it was written by man and 
is therefore a human production." Very well, but 
did you not say a little while ago that had a 
scheme of redemption been introduced, based on 
the righteousness of man, you would accept it? 
"Yes." This claims not only to be based on the 



I 

THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 125 

righteousness of man, but through this righteous- 
ness we are enabled to succeed through this life 
and stand before God, the righteous judge, in the 
last day. 

Then there are other considerations by which 
we are enabled to approve this plan, one of which 
is, that Jesus, as our mediator, was equally related 
to both parties — God, and man. He was, and is 
the Son of God, and the Son of Man. God was 
his father and the Virgin was his mother. He was 
the "seed of the woman."-Gen. iii : 15-17. Possess, 
ing such advantages as he did, he could appear in 
the presence of God and obtain the terms of recon- 
ciliation, and then come into the presence of man 
and deliver them to him, without being liable to 
the charge of being biased in favor of either party 
Since Jesus possesses the qualifications that con- 
stitute him a mediator, we are led to the considera- 
tion of the question, How are we reconciled? We 
answer, first, Jesus having finished the work as- 
signed him here, he commissioned his disciples, 
and told them that unless he went away the Holy 
Spirit would not come, but if he went away he 
would send it. This Holy Spirit was necessary to 
enable the disciples to preach the gospel to all na- 
tions in all the different dialects of the earth, and 
to enable them to work miracles, and thus confirm 



126 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

the word. This constitutes the foundation of the 
plan of man's salvation. But Jesus did not pro- 
pose to accomplish the work of reconciliation alone, 
but, as Paul expresses it, "hath given to us the 
ministry of reconciliation, to-wit: that God was 
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not 
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath 
committed to us the word of reconciliation.' -2 Cor. 
v: 18-19. We are to understand by this passage 
of scripture that the apostles were a party to this 
reconciliation, in that they were embassadors for 
Christ. Then the reconciliation of the world was 
made to depend, in the second place, on the apos- 
tles. We refer again to the language of Paul in 
this same connection : "As though God did beseech 
you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye rec- 
onciled to God." Here we learn that, in the third 
place, every man becomes an interested party in 
the matter, and his reconciliation is made to de- 
pend on his effort, as well as the efforts of others. 
We see then, from the foregoing, that no man (as 
a sinner), can be reconciled unless he becomes in- 
terested enough to obey the Lord. Therefore we 
conclude that man was estranged by doing wrong 
(disobeying the Lord), and by obeying the Lord, or 
doing right (which is the same) he was reconciled. 
We inquire next. When are we reconciled I 



I 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 127 

There is a great diversity of opinion on this sub- 
ject, many assuming tliat it is the work of the 
heart only, while others who are just as sincere, 
believe that the obedience required in order to 
reconciliation involves a physical act. If the former 
is true, it necessarily excludes all physical acts as 
necessary to this end. But if the latter be true, it 
may require both ; but in either case we must ad- 
mit that what Christ did was, and is necessarily 
the divine part of this scheme — that part which 
man could not do. 

We then proceed to examine the first proposi- 
tion. Does our obedience consist of the action of 
the heart only? Perhaps one of the strongest texts 
that could be brought forward in support of this 
position is the following : " But God be thanked 
that (though) ye were the servants of sin, but ye 
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine 
which was delivered you, being then made free 
from sin."-Rom. vi : 17-18. 

The above scripture teaches that immediately 
on the obedience from their hearts, they were made 
free from sin. The question to be decided is, does 
this language allude to heart obedience only? This 
can be decided only from the context, and that 
includes the language of scripture quoted. The 
context discloses that the apostle is writing about 



128 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

both kinds of obedience. Then we will have to 
determine the matter by the language of the text. 
We select, to begin with, the phrase ''form of doe- 
trine" as this was the thing obeyed. What is it ? 
This can be correctly answered only by learning 
what the doctrine is. Webster defines doctrine as 
follows, viz.: Teaching; what is taught, etc. This 
leads us to inquire into what they taught, for what- 
ever they taught was the doctrine. Any one at all 
familiar with the scriptures knows that they were 
commanded to preach the gospel. Then, as Jesus 
commanded them to teach all nations, and also 
told them to preach the gospel to every creatui'e, 
they must be the same thing. Let us then inquire 
for a definition of gospel. Paul said to the Cor- 
inthians, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you 
the gospel which I preached unto you, which also 
ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which 
also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I 
preachd unto you, unless ye have believed in 
vain ; for I delivered to you first of all that which 
I also received, how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, 
and that he rose again the third day according to 
thes criptures.'-l Cor. xv : 1-4. 

Paul here defines the gospel as a subjective force 
(causative), but mark you, we do not obey this. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 129 

but a form of it. The part that Jesus did, consti- 
tuted the doctrine. We cannot do that, for Christ 
died literally, was buried, and was raised from the 
dead literally. Then, in order to obey a form of 
it, we should die in some sense, be buried in some 
sense, and be raised in some sense. 

Since our obedience involves the action of the 
heart, and since the heart is that factor of our be- 
ing with which we think, desire, and love ; and 
since our death, as obedience to that form of doc- 
trine, must represent his death, we therefore con- 
clude, that Jesus laid down his life for our sake, 
and although he loved his life, as was demonstrated 
by his agony in the garden of Gethsemane, yet he 
sacrificed it for us ; he loved his own life, but he 
loved us more. Then our obedience must involve 
the same ideas, our love of sin to correspond with 
his love of this life ; this we must yield, as he did, 
willingly. Then, as he gave up the enjoyment of 
this life when it was offered to him with all the 
kingdoms in it ; then, to be like him in our obedi- 
ence we must give up the enjoyment of our sins. 
This also includes the practice of our sin. Any- 
thing short of this can never be acceptable obedi- 
ence to the Lord. Thus we see that the heart is 
involved in obedience to this part of the form of 
doctrine. But as this is not all of the form we 



130 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

conclude that the man is not freed from sin, and 
if not freed from sin he is not reconciled. 

Let us next inquire what it is as acts of our own 
that constitutes the crucifying of the flesh with the 
affections and lusts, and makes our obedience like 
the crucifixion of Christ? We answer, most as- 
suredly that which destroys our love for sin and 
its practice. Then, since we are known to love 
with the heart we may be expected to exercise the 
heart in our obedience to that which will crucify 
our love for sin. That act of obedience i^, faith or 
belief in the truth involving the divinity of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. For the apostle said, " With 
the heart man believeth unto righteousness." "And 
shalt believe in their heart that God hath raised 
him (Jesus) from the dead."-Kom. x:9-10. 

To believe a falsehood will inspire us with life 
in the love and practice of this falsehood, as a 
natural consequence. Then, on the other hand, to 
believe the truth would inspire us with life to re- 
ject the falsehood and cause us to love and prac- 
tice the truth, as a natural consequence. But as 
in either case the action of the will is necessarily 
involved in order to constitute it right or wrong, 
therefore an involuntary act of the heart is not to 
be accepted as the faith here mentioned. Repent- 
ance is therefore required in order to call up the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 181 

energy of the will and Ccause it to resist the tempta- 
tions that threaten our destruction. Then faith 
and repentance are the necessary steps which de- 
stroy our love for sin and its practice. While this 
is true, we may be assured that in this condition, 
with the finer emotions and sensibilities of our 
nature being awakened, we are better prepared to 
do service for the Lord than at any time before. 

But since Christ was buried, we conclude that 
as we are naturally disposed to consider the death 
of Christ as a part of this form of doctrine, we 
would be inconsistent were we to ignore another 
part. Then may we inquire what act of ours in 
obedience to this form of doctrine represents his 
burial? All the religious organizations are sub- 
substantially agreed in the foregoing until we 
come to regard the obedience to that particular 
feature which is designed to represent Christ's 
burial. But as it would be unfair to deviate from 
our usual method of deciding such questions, we 
will continue to appeal to the scriptures. We will 
hear Paul on this very important subject. He 
says : "As many of us as have been baptized into 
Jesus Christ* have been baptized into his death, 
therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
death, that like as Christ was raised up from the 
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also 



132 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

should walk in newness of life; for if we have 
been planted in the likeness of his death we shall 
be also in the likeness of his resurrection.' '-Rom. vi : 
3-5. Hear him again : " Buried with him in bap- 
tism wherein also ye are risen with him through 
the faith of the operation of God who hath raised 
him (Jesus) from the dead.' -Coll. ii :12. 

From these scriptures we not only learn that he 
meant baptism as a representation of Christ's 
burial, but also his resurrection. If this is not his 
intention, then I must confess that I am unable 
to make anything intelligible of it. I know that 
there is a very popular notion that this is a figure 
used to express, or signify what faith has done for 
us, etc., but the only thing I see about it is that it 
represents Christ's death, burial, and resurrection 
in what we obey. For Paul said, "ye have obeyed 
from the heart that form of doctrine," etc. It oc- 
curs to me that, were it a matter in which we were 
financially interested this language would be suffi- 
ciently clear. If the Lord had commanded man 
to perform any other act and called it baptism 
also, it seems to me it would have a tendency to 
confusion, because if there were two or more acts, 
required of us, and each called baptism, and one 
is merely a meaningless figure — a mere non-essen- 
tial, and another that is so important as to make 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 133 

our freedom from sin depend upon it, we would 
perhaps experience greater difficulty in determin- 
ing the difference in the value of the two acts, 
especially since, if the above is true, it would be 
hidden in an impenetrable mist which is liable to 
blind us forever. 

Leaving the reader to judge of the strength of 
the above position, we proceed to notice the next 
feature, i. e., the time when we are freed from sin. 
All should be willing to admit that when one is 
freed from sin, that he is also reconciled. Then 
Paul here says, having mentioned their obedience, 
''being then made free from sin "-Rom. vi: 19. If 
their obedience immediately preceded freedom from 
sin, it also immediately preceded their reconcilia- 
tion. Then if their obedience preceded the re- 
mission of their sins would it aot be right to 
preach it that way now ? Will some of our D. D.'s 
answer? 

We have answered the second question, viz.: 
When are we reconciled, and found that it was 
when we had obeyed from the heart that form of 
doctrine. The third is. Where are we reconciled? 
Our last quotation will aid us materially in the 
settlement of this question, but we must notice 
our first quotation and leave the other for a later 
reference. Paul said, God was " in Christ reconciling 



134 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

the world unto himself. "-2 Cor. v : 19. Now it occurs 
to me that since he also says that Christ broke 
down the middle wall of partition between us, to 
reconcile both unto God in one body, and that 
reconciliation is to take place in Christ, God is 
there, and he has promised to reconcile us in Christ. 
We are again told that " if any man be in Christ 
he is a new creature."- 2 Cor. v ; 17. Then all that 
are out of Christ are old creatures, and if old crea- 
tures they are not reconciled ; and if they are not 
reconciled they are not freed from sin, and if they 
are not freed from sin they are not redeemed. 

This leads us to inquire what it is to be in 
Christ. Of course we do not understand the apos- 
tle to mean that we enter the person of the Lord, 
but we must be in him in the same sense in which 
he is here on the earth. Let us hear what he says 
on this subject: "Now ye are the body of Christ 
and members in particular. And God hath set 
some (members) in the church, first apostles, sec- 
ondarily prophets," etc.-l Cor. xii : 27-28. Again : 
"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave 
him to be head over all things to the church which 
is his body (which is) the fulness of him (God) 
that fiUeth all in all."-Eph. i : 22-23. 

Concerning the apostle's meaning in the above, 
there can be no mistake. We can all understand 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 135 

that to be in Christ is to be in his body, the church. 
We next inquire, how, or by what means we 
get into the body— not bodies — of Christ— the 
church of Christ? All the religious organizations 
that baptize at all, claim that we get into the 
church, or church fellowship, by baptism. This 
statement implies that it is understood that the 
candidate has previously exercised faith and re- 
pented of his sins. But I am unwilling to accept 
what the religious organizations think or teach on 
this subject; I promised to let the Bible decide it. 
Then let us read another verse of the same chap- 
ter just quoted : " For by one spirit are we all bap- 
tized into one body."^l Cor. xii : 13. But some one 
will reply by saying that this is Holy Spirit bap- 
tism. No, my friend, the same verse says, "and 
have all been made to drink into one spirit." 
If the baptism here mentioned, is the spirit bap- 
tism, m which they received the holy spirit, the 
verse teaches that they received it twice. We then 
conclude that they were baptized as all others 
were; and as the apostles were commanded to go 
and teach all nations, baptizing them, etc., we 
therefore conclude that they were baptized by 
Paul, and others who were with him at the time 
See Acts, xvii : 8 ; also 1 Cor. i : 14-15. Paul here 
acknowledges that lie baptized some of them As 



136 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

the Savior did not authorize any one to baptize 
with the Holy Spirit, but as John said that "he 
should baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire," 
we therefore conclude they were baptized like 
the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, com- 
manded to "repent and be baptized, every one of 
you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission 
of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Gho8t."-Acts, ii:38. The inspired writer says, 
"They that gladly received his word were baptized, 
and the same day there were added three thousand 
souls." These were added to those who were set 
in the church first, apostles, prophets, etc., thus 
constituting the first organized body, or church, of 
Christ on earth. 

We have learned then, that God was, and is in 
Christ reconciling the world, and to be reconciled, 
we must return to God (in Christ), also, that to 
be in Christ is to be in his chixrch, and if we are 
in his body (the church) we are new creatures; 
and that we get into his body, the church, by bap- 
tism ; having previously believed in him, repented 
of our sins, confessed his name before men, thus 
completing our obedience to that form of doctrine. 
As conclusive evidence of the fact that we are 
redeemed in him, we quote Eph.i:7: "In whom 
we have redemption through his blood, the for- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 137 

giveness of sins." The canswer to the third question. 
Do you say it is not satisfactory ? I cannot help 
it ; it is the answer of inspiration. Then it is in 
Christ — his body — the church, we are reconciled. 
Do you, kind reader, remember how the Corinthians 
got into the church, or body ? Paul said they were 
" all baptized into one body," the church. 

Now I reason, that if it is necessary to get . into 
Christ in order to be made a new creature — to be 
reconciled — to be redeemed, the act of obedience 
that Paul calls baptism, which inducts us into the 
body, is of importance in the same proportion that 
means is to an end. If this is not logically true, 
I must confess that I am unable to understand the 
application of correct principles. For the end (in 
Christ) is absolutely necessary to redemption, etc., 
then baptism which (means) inducts into Christ, 
the body, must be as necessary. The church of 
Christ being, or constituting the fulness of God, we 
can never enjoy the fulness of God outside of the 
church, or body, of Christ. The penny will be 
given to the man that labors in the vineyard of 
the Lord. Are you in the vineyard, kind reader? 



CHAPTER X. 
DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 

" Thou art my son ; this day have I begotten thee." — Ps. ii:7." 

THE passage of scripture used above has been 
quoted by various authors, inspired and un- 
inspired, to prove the divinity of Christ. I am 
aware, however, that there are persons in the world 
who refuse to regard the Bible as containing evi- 
dence of his divinity, since they do not regard it 
as divine, or inspired. While I know this, yet we 
must have a proposition, and as the Bible furnishes 
us with the proposition in the affirmative, we pro- 
pose to honor it sufficiently as authority for the 
proposition, if for nothing else. 

The scripture referred to at the beginning of 
this chapter asserts the relationship between God 
and Christ. Infidels would not have questioned 
this, I presume (for there would have been no in- 
fidelity) had men reasoned correctly about this 
proposition. Here I think lies the trouble. Men 
undertake to prove that Christ is, and always was, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 139 

God in the sense of God as the creator, etc. Christ 
as the son, could not be the father of himself. 
This is an absurdity. 

Again, the old dogma that reads: "God is with- 
out body or parts (or passions), etc. And in uni- 
son of this Godhead there are three persons of one 
subtance, power and eternity: God the Father, God 
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.'' Three Gods 
in one ! The Bible does not teach it. The record 
shows that there is one God, not three. But if one 
of these constitutes a part of this Godhead, then it 
has parts. This contradicts the dogma, for it says, 
"he is without body or parts." Infidels get an ad- 
vantage here. But this is not the worst feature ; 
this dogma claims three God's of equal power, 
substance and eternity, yet Jesus said, "My Father 
is greater than I."-John, xiv : 28. And besides this, 
if there were three Gods of equal power, neither 
would be supreme. 

Men endorse these dogmas, not because they are 
according to the Bible, but because they are bound 
by the creeds which require them to endorse them 
in order to a support. By this means we are made 
stumbling blocks in the way of others. But when 
you ask why they believe in such dogmas, they 
will tell you that, our fathers were wise and good 
men, and through reverence for them we retain 



140 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

these in our creed, or confession of faith. But I 
would inquire, where did our fathers get them? 
The answer will be, they received them from their 
fathers. And thus we would presently get back 
to the time when man knew very little of the 
Bible, and during the prevalence of this ignorance 
they wrote a creed, and we seem to have received 
this and allowed it to take the place of the Bible. 
Our proof text is free from anything of this kind. 
It states that at a specified time the Lord Jesus 
attained that degree of eminence that entitled him 
to such relationship. " Thou art my son ; this day 
have I begotten thee." This language would not, 
or rather, did not apply to Jesus until after the 
resurrection ; although this was spoken by David 
hundreds of years before it was fulfilled, it was 
not yet applied to Christ. There was a time, then, 
when Jesus was not begotten in the sense in which 
it is used in this passage. This, I think, is the 
key to the trouble among orthodox people. Let us 
give an example : When Abraham was returning 
from the slaughter of the kings, Melchisadec met 
him, to whom Abraham paid tithes. At this time 
Abraham had no son, but Paul, commenting on 
this event, says : "Levi also who receiveth tithes 
paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins 
of his father when Melchisadec met him. Here it 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 141 

is represented that a priestliood having Levi for its 
head paid tithes four hundred years before any 
laws or regulations were given concerning it. Now 
if Levi, four hundred years after this transaction 
could pay tithes, it seems that all the house of 
Levi, and his brethen for all time, did the same. 
But the point I wish to make in this illustration 
is, that Christ was the son of God as the divine 
seed, in the same relation to God that Isaac was 
the son of Abraham by promise, or his seed yet in 
the loins of his father, or as Levi was yet in the 
loins of Abraham, his great grandfather, when 
Melchisadec met him. The time came when ^is 
promise was changed to a prophecy, then he was 
the son of God by, or according to, prophecy. When 
this prophecy was fulfilled, Jesus was born the 
son of man, and sojourned in the earth and died, 
and as he said of himself, " The son of man goeth 
as it is written of him," etc., but when he was 
raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, 
and was made Lord and Christ, it was then the 
language at the beginning of this chapter was 
used and applied to him as Christ (annointed). 

Paul, in discoursing to the people at Antioch, 
after describing the resurrection and ascension of 
Christ, concludes by saying: "And we declare 
unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which 



142 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the 
same unto us their children, in that he hath raised 
up Jesus again ; as it is also written in the second 
psalm, "Thou art my son ; this day have I begotten 
thee."- Acts, xiii : 32-33. 

Paul evidently understood this matter, and he 
locates the time when this scripture applied to 
Jesus, and hence applies it after his resurrection. 
But you observe that he speaks of the ''promise 
made unto the fathers." For this promise we are 
referred primarily to Gen. iii : 15 : "And I will put 
enmity between thee and the woman, and between 
thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and 
thou shalt bruise hi^ heel." Again, referring to 
the same seed, the Lord said : "And in thy seed 
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; be- 
cause thou hast obeyed my voice."-Gen. xxii :18. 
I know that there are some who are prejudiced 
against the opinion that there was an allusion to 
Christ in the conversation between God and the 
serpent in the garden, when he spoke of the seed 
of the woman, but if this was not a direct refer- 
ence to Christ, then the passage is meaningless 
altogether. 

In speaking of the promise God made to Abra- 
ham, Paul said : "And to thy seed, which is Christ." - 
Gal. iii : 16. Jesus in the parable of the sower and 



I 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 143 

the seed, said : " The word of God is the seed of the 
kingdom." And again: "The good seed are the 
children of the kingdom. "-Matt, xiii ; Mark, iv ; 
Luke, viii. 

In the above passages we have the seed of the 
kingdom as the children of God, and the tares rep- 
resenting the children of the wicked one. There 
could have been no better illustration of the oppo- 
sition that was alluded to in the conversation in 
the garden than the parable of the wheat and 
tares. The final result shows the triumph of the 
children of God, as well as the destruction of the 
wicked. 

According to the well known laws of procrea- 
tion, or power of reproduction, inhering in all 
species or orders of life, the kingdom of God being 
represented as containing living beings, it will not 
be thought unreasonable for me to affirm that the 
kingdom of God had this power of increasing by re- 
producing itself. In connection with the foregoing 
John says : ''In the beginning was the word, and 
the word was with God, and the word was God." 
This word was evidently the divine power used, 
which was manifested through Christ and his 
apostles, in their miracle working power. This 
immaterial organism called the word, became flesh 
(materialized) and dwelt among us. (1 John, i : 17.) 



144 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

Paul, speaking of this feature said : *: For verily 
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he 
took on him the seed of Abraham ; wherefore it 
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren."- 
Heb. ii : 16-17. Again he says : " Wherefore, when 
he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and 
burnt offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast 
thou prepared me."-Heb. x : 5. How was this body 
prepared ? 

If the reader will turn back to the diagram, he 
will observe that I use the outer large circle of the 
rim of the wheel to represent eternity, and also 
the dominion God — kingdom of God. Directly in 
the center of this large circle, as well as central 
circle, you will see the letter G, representing the 
throne of God as his abode. Now, admitting that 
I am in any degree correct, knowing that this uni- 
versal empire is also an empire of souls, it follows 
that it is perfectly consistent with the nature of 
things for the kingdom of God to contain a seed 
peculiar to itself, and since the seed of any vegeta- 
ble will remain alone, unless it is sown and comes in 
contact with the fructifying elements of the earth, 
so the seed of the kingdom of God would have re- 
mained but for the conception of the Virgin, where, 
as in the case of the vegetable, or even the seed of 
men. See illustration of the Savior: ''Except a 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 145 

corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it 
abideth alone."- John, xii : 24. So in the case of 
the seed of the kingdom of God. 

The reader will observe that the small circle en- 
closing the center is called the Garner, indicative 
of the original and eternal state of this seed; it 
w- as then sown and had its natural course of life 
until it was terminated by his crucifixion. This 
seed was born the ''Babe of Bethlehem," disputed 
with the lawyers and doctors as a youth of twelve ; 
was crucified as a man, and immediately passed 
into the Intermediate state ; came back at the ex- 
piration of three days ; took up his body and as- 
cended into' the Millennial state, where he will 
reign until all his enemies are subdued, then the 
kingdom will be submitted to the Father, who will 
become all in all. 

This much has been said by way of supporting 
my first argument, based on the first quotation. 
While I have not followed the argmentative style, 
yet enough has been said by way of reference to 
establish it beyond argument. I trust the reader 
will study these references made to the Seed of 
the Kingdom and its development from the Seed 
state (see diagram, at top) to the Eternal state, 
where it originated. I think a beautiful and in- 
structive lesson is taught by it, and if it has no 



146 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

reference to Christ and the wonderful things he 
did, then I will confess that I have read to very 
little profit But if it refers to Christ, then his 
divinity needs no stronger support than is here 
given. 

I wish to base my second argument on the types 
of the Old Testament. The first type is that of 
an offering, which requires that it shall be of a 
certain age (one year old), of a certain kind, of a 
certain sex, was to be killed in a certain manner, 
and its blood was for the remission of sins. But 
to particularize, let us use the offering of the goat. 
Lev. xvi: 15-23: Here we learn that there were 
two goats selected, one was to be slain and the 
other '' borne away to the wilderness, to a land not 
inhabited." This, I understand to be a perfect illus- 
tration, or type, or Christ. Christ was not only a 
triune being, possessing body, soul and spirit, but 
he was dual in his nature, for he was both human 
and divine. As the son of man, he was offered as 
an offering representing the goat that was slain, 
but as the son of God he was borne by angels to a 
land not inhabited (the Millennial state), he rep- 
resented the scapegoat. This was the mansion he 
went to prepare for man. He has inhabited it 
ever since. Hence Jesus was ^'put to death in the 
flesh,'' etc. Thus, by his dual nature and relation, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 147 

lie is a complete antitype of the offering of sacri- 
fice in former ages. He bore our sins in his body 
on the cross. He afterward entered into the ''holy 
place not made with hands, which are figures of 
the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in 
the presence of God for us.' -Heb. ix : 24. 

We introduce Moses as a type of Christ: 1, 
Moses was born of Hebrew parents ; so was Christ. 
2, The ruling monarch conspired against his (Mo- 
ses') life ; so the ruling king ( Herod ) did against 
the life of Jesus. 3, Moses was preserved by being 
brought up secretly; so Jesus was preserved by 
his flight into Egypt and return to Nazareth and 
the obscure life he lived there. 4, As Moses be- 
came renowned for his learning among the Israel- 
ites and Egyptians ; so Jesus became famous among 
the people of his day for his wisdom of a superior 
character. 5, As Moses was called to deliver his 
people out of the hands of their enemies, that they 
might worship God according to his will ; so Jesus 
was called to deliver his people from their sins, 
that they might worship God in spirit and in 
truth. 6, As Moses promised them a land of in- 
heritance . so did Jesus teach his people that they 
should have an everlasting inheritance if they 
would serve him. 7, As Moses was permitted to 
stand on the mount and behold, while living, tht^ 



148 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

land of Canaan; so Christ was transferred and 
enabled to see the everlasting inheritance. 8, As 
Moses was the mediator of the Old Testament to 
the Jews ; so Jesus was and is the mediator of the 
New Testament to all nations. 9, As Moses was 
a law -giver to the Israelites ; so Jesus was a law- 
giver to all nations. 10, As Moses was a God to 
the Iraelites ; so Jesus, Emmanuel, which by inter- 
pretation is God with us. 

We have mentioned ten features in which Moses 
resembled Jesus — enough to have constituted him 
a complete type of Christ, besides numerous refer- 
ences which support this proposition in the way 
of prophecy. Paul, in speaking of the events that 
transpired under that economy, while Moses was 
their leader, says : '' These things are our examples, 
and are written for our admonition, upon whom 
the ends of the world are come."-l Cor.x:ll. Hence, 
these being our examples constitutes them types, 
and if types, they must have their antitypes in us 
as a people, and Christ as our leader. This much, 
I think should be admitted. 

Our third argument is based on the prophecies. 
These are too numerous to admit of even a brief 
discussion in a book like this ; therefore we will 
merely call attention to the number of these pre- 
dictions, and the manner of their fulfillment, with 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 149 

tlie pec'uliar misinterpretations of the same on the 
part of the people. It is a singular fact that there 
are more than four hundred predictions which 
could have their fulfillment in no other person, or 
object, than Jesus Christ. They accurately de- 
scribe every phase, incident, and feature of his life 
in which the human family could have been even 
remotely interested. 

These prophecies designate the tribe, the par- 
ticular branch of that tribe, and the very persons 
who were to become royally allied by the birth of 
Christ. They also designate the time for this 
wonderful event to take place. They accurately 
describe his birth and the circumstances connected 
with it as narrated. They also describe his life, 
stupendous miracles, his death, together with the 
remarkable phenomena which were observed at 
that time, such as the earthquakes, the darkening 
of the sun, the rending in twain of the vail that 
hung in the temple for hundreds of years, and the 
appearance of persons alive who had long since 
been dead. 

It is very evident that these wonderful phe- 
nomena did occur, and it is also evident that the 
persons who predicted them were in possession of 
a knowledge of it, or they could not have foretold 
them ; and furthermore, if there were persons who 



150 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

liad a knowledge of them, where did they get it ^ 
They did not derive it from their ancestors, or their 
neighbors, neither did they possess this knowledge 
naturally. Then they must have been inspired 
with a supernatural knowledge of it. 

These prophecies also describe his burial, resur- 
rection, ascension and glorification. Now, if these 
scriptures did not allude to Christ, I must confess 
that the most worthless, profane, debauched, mer- 
ciless, degenerate classes of people in the world 
were the only ones to learn it ; and the grand, no- 
ble, pure, wise, benevolent, charitable and religious 
were the easy victims of the delusion. I will say, 
however, that there are some good people who re- 
fuse to believe the Bible, and there are some very 
bad people in our religious assemblies. But this 
state of affairs is not brought about on account of 
a failut'e of a fulfillment of the prophecies on 
the one hand, nor the prevalence of infidelity 
on the other, but the incompatibily of the men 
themselves. 

My fourth argument is based on the fact that 
he had miraculous power, or that he was super- 
naturally endowed. In the event that I present 
substantial proof of this fact, or proposition, then 
my work will be accepted. It is admitted by his 
enemies that Christ was brought up in obscurity. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 151 

and in those days the people had not the advan- 
tages that we enjoy in the way of schools in dis- 
seminating scientific knowledge, and hence the 
assumption that Jesus was naturally wiser, as a 
man, than his neighbors, will not bear the crucible 
of a fair test. Therefore his wisdom is from a 
point that it enables him to withstand the wisest 
of this world w^ithout an effort. Then we assume 
that his superior wisdom affirms his divinity. 

The miracles of Christ were not tricks usually 
played to amuse the multitude, but things which 
were useful in a high degree to the people, such 
as healing the sick, restoring the blind to sight, 
unstopping the deaf ear, causing the lame to walk, 
and raising the dead to life, etc. We know that 
it is impossible to account for his ability to do 
these things except on the ground that he was in- 
spired with supernatural knowledge and power. 

But our question does not depend primarily on 
how he performed these miracles, but on the fact 
that he did them. Is it true or false? The very 
best evidence that the world could require is at 
hand, and consists in the admissions of his enemies 
that he did them ; but they say that Jesus was a 
wise man, and being a reformer, like Moses, he 
had to show his authority by performing some 
acts by arts that were understood by very few, if 



152 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

any, and in this way succeeded to the fame that 
extended throughout Palestine, etc. This is enough 
to establish the proposition. These admissions are 
made by lecturers who do not realize that they 
are laying the foundation for their own destruction. 

To admit this much opens the way for the dis- 
cussion of how he did it, which is the next question 
to settle. Did he understand the constituent ele- 
ments of water and wine sufficiently to extract the 
overplus of water in the water-pots and infuse the 
necessary elements that would convert it to wine i 
But suppose he did this, how did he do it^ Did 
he use anything but water? if so, where did he 
get it? How strange, if this was his method, that 
the world did not learn his method, for water is 
very cheaiJ and wine is very high. Besides, the 
governor of that feast pronounced this the best 
wine he had tasted. No ; it will be impossible to 
account for the means which enabled him to do 
this except on the ground that he was inspired — 
divine. 

My fifth argument is based on the claims of the 
disciples that he was raised from the dead. Before 
introducing the witnesses, however, I wish to state 
a few well understood rules governing testimony 
and the credibility of witnesses : 1, In order to be 
a competent witness in any court of justice, or 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 153 

given case where a matter involving a question of 
fact, the witness is not expected to tell anything 
except what he knows. 2, He can know nothing 
naturally, except through his senses. The senses 
most important in preparing us as competent to 
testify, are those of sight and hearing. 3, Preju- 
dice or malice disqualifies a witness. 4, When the 
character of a witness is assailed, resulting in his 
impeachment, the case may be lost, if unsupported 
by other evidence of a reliable character. But if 
the witness is assailed and the assault not sus- 
tained, his testimony is considered reliable until 
set aside by reliable evidence from the opposition, 
which shows, in such case, the onus probandi, or 
burden of proof, devolves on the opposition. These 
rules may not be in the regular form of rules laid 
down by our best jurists, but they are based on 
common sense, and we are willing to try this case 
governed by just such rules. 

We will introduce the witnesses for the prose- 
cution first : It will be unnecessary for us to ques- 
tion them on the points of agreement. They are 
agreed substantially in the following statements : 
1, That he lived in the time and place claimed for 
him ; 2, That he did many wonderful things dur- 
ing life ; 3, That he said he would die at a certain 
time ; 4, That he was betrayed by one of his dis- 



154 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

ciples; 5, That he was arrested, tried and con- 
demned under Pontius Pilate; 6, That he was 
crucified in the manner described ; 7, That he was 
buried. 

In these seven items of agreement there would 
be no evidence of Jesus' divinity, unless we in- 
cluded his resurrection. On these seven there is 
perfect agreement, but when we introduce the 8th, 
That he was raised from the dead, the witnesses 
contradict each other. There are but two kinds 
of testimony on the side of the opposition (such 
as it is) : (a) The first is an objection based on the 
unreasonableness of the claim. By our rules of 
evidence we could condemn this as no evidence at 
all. Let us illustrate : Suppose we go to central 
Africa and tell the natives of that country that 
we have mechanical appliances by which we can 
talk to each other across the ocean, or by steam 
power we can run the various machinery of this 
continent, would they not have the same right to 
set aside your testimony by yoiu^ rule that the op- 
position would here do? Certainly so, but the 
facts would remain the same in either case. (6) 
The Romans being in power, ''the chief priests 
and Pharisees came to Pilate, saying, sir, we re- 
member that while this deceiver was alive, he said 
he would rise the third day ; command, therefore. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 155 

that the sepulchre be made sure until the third 
day, lest his disciples come and steal him away and 
say he is risen from the dead, so the last error shall 
be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them. Ye 
have a watch ; go your way and make it as sure as 
ye can. So they went and made the sepuchre sure, 
sealing the stone and setting a watch. Now, when 
they were going, some of the watch (guard) came 
into the city and showed unto the chief priests all 
the things that were done. And when they were 
assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, 
they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying. 
Say ye his disciples came by night and stole him 
away while we slept," etc. 

This testimony is taken from Matthew's record, 
it is true, but it is the best that has ever been 
done by the opposition since that time. Our rules 
will exclude these witnesses ; first, on the ground 
of their prejudice against Jesus; second on the 
ground of their dishonesty in stating for truth 
what they knew to be false ; in the third place, on 
their incompetency, since they say the disciples 
stole him away while they slept. If they were 
actually asleep, they were unable to testify to a 
thing that occurred while they were asleep. I 
will also state that it was death, by the Roman 
law, for a watchman to be found asleep at his post. 



156 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

Besides all this, it seems unnecessary for such sub- 
terfuge as this, since almost the whole of the 
Jewish nation was in their favor. 

Hear the simple story of the disciples : They say 
they saw him, handled him, and talked and ate 
with him after he rose from the dead. Their lives 
show that they were consecrated to his cause. 
They were illiterate fishermen at first, but after- 
ward inspired with wisdom that enabled them to 
withstand the Grecian learning on the one hand, 
and religious bigotry on the other. Besides, if it 
had been false, it would have been an easy matter 
to have convinced the disciples of it, since they 
did not understand it until Jesus was raised and 
ascended into heaven. 

Christianity is to-day better fortified than ever 
before. Infidelity, though stronger in numbers, is 
weaker in argument 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE HOLY SPIRIT; 

ITS MISSION AND OFFICE. 

IN making a survey of the religions of this age, 
1 with their various doctrines and efforts to mor- 
alize and Christianize the world, I know of no 
subject so widely discussed and about which so 
little is known, as the one above mentioned. I do 
not say this in the spirit of egotism, but I believe 
I know just what I am talking about when I say 
this. As an instance: Suppose we have a city 
containing seven different congregations of reli- 
gious people, and it is the season of protracted 
meetings ; each of these congregations has a doc- 
trine which is essential to its existence and per- 
petuity, and vice versa. Suppose all are engaged 
in a protracted effort to moralize and Christianize 
the people of these respective churches. All the 
ministers and praying members are earnestly pray- 
ing for an " outpouring of the Holy Spirit to guide the 
minister in all he says, and to regenerate these 
anxious ones." Now, in addition to this, let us 
suppose that the Holy Spirit would come and aid 



158 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

all these different religious doctrines in convinc- 
ing the world of the truth of what each one of 
these churches claims to teach ; what would be the 
impression made on those who belong to the world i 
Would they not think that the Lord was a very 
contradictory being? I confess I would think so, 
and yet I claim to be a religious man. When 
these religious people are asked what will become 
of the others who may chance to differ from them, 
they will answer, " Of course we think we are right, 
but then, these are just different ways of getting to 
heaven ; we differ only in non-essentials/' Now, I 
maintain as a fact that these people are deluded 
and know not the truth, or they are dishonest. 

Other illustrations might be given, showing the 
ignorance that prevails among religious people of 
this age on this very important subject, but this 
must suffice for the present. And just here let me 
remark that, as numerous criticisms are expected 
to follow the publication of this article, I will 
assist the critics as much as possible, by being 
very explicit. 

THE HOLY spirit; WHAT IS IT? 

The scriptures teach that man was formed of 
the "dust of the ground,'' and that "God breathed 
into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life (lives), 
and man became a living soul.'^ In this descrip- 



I 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SliJED. 159 

/ 

tion of man's creation, the idea of the impartation 
of the Holy Spirit is not conveyed. To my mind 
the idea is absurd. To take the position that 
Adam was given the Holy Spirit in his creation, 
would be just about as reasonable as to affirm that 
animals, in their creation, have received the same. 
I claim that in the creation of man, God gave him 
a human spirit. A human spirit, owing to its pe- 
culiar nature and quality, is superior to the spirits 
of animals and birds, hence his superior qualifica- 
tions as a ruler over all the rest of this world. 
Then, since the Holy Spirit was not given to man 
in his creation, it is not a part of man's nature, or 
organism, but whenever discovered in man, or any 
other creature, it is invariably observed by its mani- 
festations of a supernatural character. 

I understand the scriptures to teach that man 
possesses two separate and distinct organisms in 
one person, body and spirit, and by the union of 
these a third personal entity is developed, viz.: the 
soul — the moral, conscious nature of man. When 
in the possession of the Holy Spirit, according to 
the scriptures, a man is, or was, wiser ; hence the 
advantage of being inspired. Most, if not all, theo- 
logians believe that the Holy Spirit is a person — 
a divine person — the third person in the "adora- 
ble Trinity," because of the frequent use and ap- 



160 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

plication of the pronouns "he," "his" and "him." 
This, with the fact that baptism was commanded 
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit,'' (Matt. xxviii:19), I believe is 
all the proof relied on to support the doctrine of 
the personality of the Holy Spirit. 

Let us examine the proofs. As to the former 
class of proofs, I remark, that if absolute person- 
ality is to be ascribed to the Holy Spirit on account 
of the pronouns he, etc., then we would have to 
ascribe absolute personality to the sun, moon, sea, 
and wisdom, etc., whicli we know will not bear the 
test. 

As to the latter class of proofs, I would refer the 
reader to 1 Cor. x: 1-2, where Paul says: "Our 
fathers all passed through the sea and were all 
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." 
By a parity of reasoning, the "cloud and sea'' 
would be made persons. This also fails to bear 
the test, hence we dismiss the subject of the per- 
sonality of the Holy Spirit as untenable. 

Again, (1) If the Holy Spirit were a person of, 
or within himself, would he not be equally so in 
another, or others? (2) Should he dwell in more 
than one person at the same time, would he not 
have to divide himself into as many parts as there 
were persons to dwell in ? (3) Would not this divi- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 161 

sion idea be opposed to the scriptural unity idea? 
We learn that Jesus received the Holy Spirit in 
its fulness, " without measure ; " also that the apos- 
tles and other inspired men received it "by meas- 
ure," i. e., in part.-l Cor. xii ; also, xiii :9-13. 

Having shown what the Holy Spirit is not, I 
wish now to state what it is. From a careful ex- 
amination of the Bible, we find that the idea uni- 
formly conveyed is, divine wisdom accompanied with 
supernatural power. The phrases, Holy Spirit, Holy 
Ghost, Spirit of God, etc., are synonymous. " The 
gift of the Holy Spirit," is divine intellifience im- 
parted to man without study. I admit that the idea 
of life is involved in the phrase, but in the discus- 
sion of this phase of the subject, it means some- 
thing higher than — superior to life. I wish to 
classify intelligence as follows, viz. : Divine, angelic, 
human, and, in the lower orders of animals and 
insects we have what is known as instinct ; this 
latter I would call instinctive intelligence. 

The impartation of the Holy Spirit to animals 
would produce effects similar to those in man — 
supernatural effects. As evidence in support of 
the above statement, I refer the reader to the 
case of Balaam's animal, that "spake with man's 
voice." The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit 
was designed to augment man's knowledge by con- 



162 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

f erring on him an extraordinary — supernatural 
knowledge. This was done only in cases where it 
was necessary, and when the mission of the spirit 
was consummated, the man was inspired no longer, 

Jesus, in John, xiv :15-16, xvi :7; Acts, i:6-7, 
promised the Holy Spirit, '' which," said he, '' will 
teach you all things, and bring to your remem- 
brance all things whatsoever I have said unto 
you." Jesus also said: "Go ye, therefore, and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you, and, lo I am with you al- 
way, even unto the end of the world."-MRtt xxviii : 
19-20. The phrase, end of the world, in the above 
quotation, evidently means the end of the Jewish 
age, which was also the end of the miraculous age, 
as I will attempt to show in the following pages : 

For the present we will refer to but one other 
passage of scripture on this point, that of Mark, 
xvi: 16 to the close. The writer says that, "They 
went everywhere and the Lord went with them, 
confirming the word with signs following." In the 
former quotation Jesus evidently meant by being 
with them "even to the end of the world," just 
what is expressed in the latter quotation, "con- 
firming the word with signs," etc., to the end of 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 168 

the Jewish dispensation, or age, which was about 
A. D. 70, when Titus invaded Jerusalem, and took 
it. But more on this subject at the proper time. 
We next inquire into the necessity of such a 
valuable gift to humanity. I note first that from 
a standpoint of orthodoxy, there not only existed 
then, but even now, a necessity for the Holy Spirit. 
I mean by orthodoxy, the prevailing notion that 
man is "totally depraved" in the sense that he 
could not do anything as obedience acceptable to 
God until he was operated upon by the Holy 
Spirit. I will state further, that I believe that this 
is the chief corner-stone in the foundation of spir- 
itual Babylon. Those who believe in a direct, or 
indirect, operation of the Holy Spirit, to be con- 
sistent, should believe also in the personality of 
the Holy Spirit. I suppose there are many persons 
who, in reading this chapter, will feel very much 
like putting the book aside just at this point, but 
I hope none will be guilty of such injustice to me 
as this would be. 

THE OFFICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Enough has been said in the preceding pages to 
render the work in this part of the subject com- 
paratively easy. By office of the Holy Spirit, I 
mean the work, or duties, it performs. Then what 
duties did the Holy Spirit perform when it was 



164 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

upon earth ? We have seen that man in his original 
state was not created with the Holy Spirit in him, 
as a part of his organism, Adam, in his primeval 
home did not need the Holy Spirit, for he had the 
pleasure of being associated with God day by day; 
but in process of time the Lord thrust man from 
the garden of Eden on account of his disobedience, 
thereby forfeiting his right to the tree of life and 
the happy associations of such a home. God then 
substituted in his stead angels — messengers to 
man — but these did not go to the multitudes, but 
to chosen men, and through them taught the 
multitudes. This pre-eminence constituted them 
prophets, or seers. In process of time the Lord 
chose to change his method of revealing himself to 
man — the change from angel visitation to that in- 
dicated by the head-lines above. The Holy Spirit 
was introduced then, and moved upon the "holy 
men of old" to say and do things that they eould 
not naturally say and do, else the Lord did a super- 
fluous work. In the case of each man who re- 
ceived the Holy Spirit there was a degree of ex- 
traordinary — supernatural — kno wledge en j oy ed 
that he of his own exertion could not attain. 

We find persons all over this country who have 
been made to believe that they have received the 
Holy Spirit. They will also tell you that they 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 165 

believe that the Holy Spirit is the " third person 
in the Trinity," and that this spirit regenerated 
them, etc. But when you enter into conversation 
with them you will observe that they are no wiser 
than other men of the same opportunities, that are 
not regenerated, etc. But anciently this was not 
so ; when the people received the Holy Spirit they 
could speak with tongues they never learned, work 
miracles, etc. 

Since we have discovered the office of the Spirit, 
the next question in order would be. Who received 
it? We answer that none received it except those 
who were either apostles, prophets or prophetesses, 
primarily, and the officers, or persons filling the 
positions in the church, secondarily. Among this 
latter class we have persons so miraculously en- 
dowed that they could prophesy also, but it seems 
that they did not possess as great a measure as the 
prophets of the first class; see iCor. xii:31; xiv: 
1-3. In these passages the apostle exhorts his 
brethren to "covet earnestly the best gifts, but 
rather that we may prophesy." 

Admitting that the position here taken is true, 
we proceed to ask the question in regular order, 
How did they receive it? The answer to this 
question will establish and confirm our answer to 
the last. We answer that the Holy Spirit was im- 



166 

parted to those who received it, in two different 
ways: 1, To the apostles and others assembled 
with them, amounting to one hundred and twenty, 
in the temple on the day of Pentecost, by an out- 
pouring and overwhelmed them, which was called 
baptism ; the same was repeated in the city of 
Cesarea, on the house of Cornelius. Some may ob- 
ject to this, and say that these people were not all 
apostles, and therefore they did not receive the 
spirit in the same way. In reply to this I would 
remark that it was the same spirit, but it was di- 
vided (distributed) severally to every man as he 
would.-l Cor. xii : 1-7. The Lord did not bestow 
all these gifts on one person, but distributed the 
gifts among them all. Hence Paul said : " Now 
we know in part and prophesy in part." 

2, To the officers of the church, or in other words, 
those who ministered to the church as elders and 
deacons were inspired ; the Holy Spirit was im- 
parted by the laying on of the apostles' hands and 
prayer. Apostles, and prophets of the first class 
only, were permitted or even able to impart this 
gift. They only had the power given to them to 
do this work. In proof of this I refer the reader 
to Acts, viii: 14-17. Here we learn that Philip 
was able to preach the gospel and work miracles, 
but could not confer this gift on another. So 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 167 

"when the apostles heard that Samaria had re- 
ceived the word of God they sent unto them Peter 
and John, who, when they came down, laid their 
hands on them and prayed that they might receive 
the Holy Ghost," etc. It was necessary for such 
gifts to accompany the preaching of the gospel, 
otherwise the people would not have been able to 
perpetuate the truth among so many false notions 
as existed among the people in those days. Then 
the apostles were necessary at Samaria in order 
that the people might receive and enjoy the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. 

As a further proof of my position, I refer the 
reader to Gal. iii ; 1-5. Paul here asks the question 
of the Gallatians : "He, therefore, that ministereth 
to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you, 
doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the 
hearing of faith?" It is evident that Paul alludes 
here to the manner of conferring the Holy Spirit 
on the people, for he connects it with working 
miracles. Then these Gallatians had the spirit 
given them by the laying on of the hands of the 
inspired apostles, or prophets. 

One more quotation, and we shall have done 
our proof on this part of the subject : Acts, xix :l-5. 
Here we learn that Paul found twelve disciples at 
Ephesus, and asks them if they had received the 



168 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

Holy Spirit since they believed, but they said they 
had not heard whether there be (or has come 
the Holy Spirit yet) any Holy Ghost. Paul then 
asked : " Unto what were you baptized ? " They say 
" unto John's baptism." Paul then told them what 
John's baptism amounted to, and when they heard 
this they were baptized in the name of the Lord. 
Then Paul prayed and laid his hands on them, 
and they received the Holy Ghost, and spoke with 
tongues. 

Thus we see that in each of these cases the peo- 
ple depended on the apostles to confer these gifts 
upon them, and although they had obeyed the 
gospel as we have, and the Bible says that they 
had received the word of God, and yet they had not 
received the Holy Spirit. But perhaps you would 
answer that this had reference to the miraculous 
gifts of the spirit, and not the Holy Spirit itself. 
To which I would reply, that all the gifts of 
the spirit I ever read or know anything of, were 
miraculous. I can hear of persons who say that 
they have received the Holy Spirit, but I do not 

believe it ; the Bible will not bear them out in it, 
and I think they are deceived and are entitled 
to our sympathy rather than our condemnation. 
I know that I am here almost alone in advocating 
this idea, but before I close this chapter I propose 
to demonstrate this beyond all reasonable doubt. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 169 

THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. 

"Who hath calso sealed us, and given us the 
earnest of the spirit in our hearts."-2 Cor. i:12. 
"In whom also after that ye believed, ye were 
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is 
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemp- 
tion of the purchased possession to the praise of 
his glory."-Eph. i : 13-14. 

The above passages have been often misinter- 
preted by persons who thought that in the gift of 
the Holy Spirit to his disciples, he had provided 
for it to remain here on earth forever, i. e., eternally; 
while the above scriptures were given for no other 
purpose than to designate the length of time the 
Holy Spirit should remain here on earth. Dr. 
Adam Clark, in commenting on the scripture al- 
luded to, says: "The earnest of the Spirit here 
mentioned is the Holy Spirit given to them as a 
pledge, until the redemption of the purchased pos- 
session." Then as it was given as a pledge of his 
promise to redeem them, the pledge must necessa- 
rily be returnable as soon as the promise of the 
Lord is fulfilled. 

But Mr. Clark, and many others, when they fix 
the date of the fulfillment of this promise as fu- 
ture from this time, or even for eighteen centuries. 
I mean to say by this, that the Lord fulfilled his 



170 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

promise more than eighteen hundred years since. 
To be more explicit, I mean that the redemption 
was enjoyed by the disciples when they, by the 
instructions of Jesus, fled into the mountains of 
Judea; for he had told them that when they 
should see the abominations of dessolation spoken 
by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place, 
that they should lose no time in esca^Ding to the 
mountains, for there should be distressing times 
then. Well, these disciples watched for these 
things, and when Vespasian entered and besieged 
Jerusalem, it was plainly visible to the disciples 
that the time had come, consequently they fled 
after Vespasian left and before Titus came, and 
were redeemed, for Jesus told them when they 
should see all these things to "look up, for your 
redemption draweth nigh.''-Luke, xxi :28. 

Now, if this is the redemption spoken of in our 
text, then we are ready to affirm that a miracle 
has not been worked since A. D. 70. I ask the 
reader to turn to Mark, xxiv : 1-35, and Luke, xxi : 
1-33. Read these chapters carefully and you will 
observe that I am correct in saying that these 
passages refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. If 
Jesus' promise of redemption to these disciples 
alluded to his miraculous provision for their es- 
cape from the destruction brought on the Jews at 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. l7l 

this time, I would suppose there would be no vio- 
lence done were I to use this rule in other passages 
where the language involves the same idea. 

In giving the commission Jesus said : "All power, 
both in heaven and earth, is given unto me, go ye 
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit ; teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo I am 
with you alway, even to the end of the worldT- 
Matt.xxviii: 19-20. 

Here we have the language "end of the world," 
which most persons are accustomed to teach as 
referring to the end of time, but in the light of 
the rule discovered in the discussion of the other 
passages under consideration, we would not so in- 
terpret it. But now, to settle this question so that 
it will be perfectly clear, we quote from the same 
commission as recorded by another writer : " Go ye 
into all the world and preach the gospel unto every 
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. 
And these signs shall follow them that believe: 
In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up ser- 
pents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall 
not liuH them ; they shall lay hands on the sick 



172 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

and they shall recover. So then, after he had 
spoken unto them he was received up into heaven, 
and sat on the right hand of God. And they went 
forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working 
with them and confirming the word with signs 
following. "-Mark, xvi: 15-20. 

I have given all this scripture in order to show 
that it was the same commission, but the point I 
wish to make is to show that where Matthew says 
that Jesus promised to be with his disciples till 
the end of the world, Mark says that the disciples 
went everywhere and preached the word, and the 
Lord worked with them, confirming the word with 
signs following. You will perceive that what he 
promised as recorded by Matthew was fulfilled ac- 
cording to Mark's testimony. Thus with these 
scriptures we have seen that the rule applies, and 
it removes the difficulty connected with the signs 
spoken of by Christ, which were to follow. We 
can see how these signs continued to the end of 
the (Jewish age) world, and are not in existence 
now. Another important thought is here developed, 
and that is, that the signs here mentioned are the 
evidences of the fact that the persons perfoming 
them possessed the Holy Spirit ; and the revei^e 
must also be true, i e., where we have no signs, we 
have no Holy Spirit. 



I 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. l73 

RESISTANCE AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

A great many persons imagine that the Holy 
Spirit could not be resisted except in the same 
way that they would resist a strong current of air 
or water. They think that men can resist and 
drive it from their midst. But let us inquire how 
it was resisted anciently. Stephen said : " Ye stiff- 
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do 
alv/ays resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, 
so do ye."- Acts, vii : 51. How did their fathers re- 
sist the Holy Ghost? It was given to none except 
the prophets of the Old Testament. Then in re- 
sisting the inspired teachers of the New Testament 
they resisted the Holy Spirit in the same way their 
fathers did. I suppose we would be as guilty to- 
day by resisting the record of truth given us by 
these inspired men, as if we were to resist them in 
person. Then by resisting the truth uttered by 
the Spirit eighteen hundred years ago, we would 
be resisting the Holy Spirit as much as if it dwelt 
in men to-day. 

This being true, we see no necessity for the pres- 
ence of the Holy Spirit on the earth to-day, and if 
there is no necessity for it to-day, God is too wise, 
and too much an economist to do a thing that is 
not necessary ; hence we have no Holy Spirit with 
us to.day. I feel assured that a great many reli- 



174 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

gious people who read the above will condemn it 
as unorthodox and untrue, but I will here state 
that it is my firm conviction that in less than 
twenty years from this date the intelligent reli- 
gious people of every nation will support it, and 
when the world will laugh to scorn the idea of a 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, fire or no fire. 

INDWELLING OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

By the above phrase is meant that the Holy 
Spirit dwells in man now in some way which is 
indescribable, but they seem to know it by their 
feelings. For the same reasons given above, I do 
not believe this either. They tell me that the 
Holy Spirit is a comforter ; but I knew this before. 
When a man possesses his own spirit, it manifests 
itself; when he has an evil spirit it manifests 
itself by signs, and when a man has the spirit of 
God in him it will manifest itself in supernatural 
manner. 

Perhaps you will say that I do not quote enough 
scripture to maintain my position. I never expect 
to find a passage of scripture contrary to common 
sense. Let us take a few that are considered the 
strongest in favor of the position I am opposing : 
"The Spirit itself beareth with our spirit that we 
are the children of God.'-Rom. viii:16. We are 
aware that the popidar notion is, that this passage 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 175 

teaches that the Holy Spirit dwelling in man con- 
curs, or corroborates the testimony of our spirit in 
the fact that we are the children of God. But I 
cannot accept this for two reasons ; the first is, be- 
cause I do not believe that any man has the spirit 
in him to-day, and therefore could not testify, etc. 
The second is, it makes the man liable to all 
manner of delusions, while believing that he is 
prompted by divine influences. I may add as a 
third reason, because the Holy Spirit, spoaking 
through these apostles, taught the people that 
which was necessary to their salvation — becoming 
children of God. Their spirits yielded obedience 
to this teaching, and hence they could say, since 
their spirits said they were children of God, the 
Holy Spirit, through the apostles, acknowledged 
them as such; hence Paul could say that of him- 
self and those whom he knew to be his brethren. 
But in order to settle this matter more clearly, 
we ask, how did she Spirit designate those who 
were not children of God, but hypocrites? How 
did it do it in the days of the Savior? Answer, 
by speaking through Christ or the apostles ; this 
we all know to be true. Then we conclude that 
the Holy Spirit had a certain way of approving 
men by acknowledging them as children of God, 
as well as of condeming men as hypocrites, and in 



176 THE PAPER WHEEL, OP 

both cases it used men to accomplish it. In thin 
way we would avoid delusion. If the inspired 
apostles would condemn a man as a hypocrite, it 
was because the Spirit that was in them enabled 
them to do it. Then if they approved any as chil- 
dren of God, it was because they were enabled to 
do so by the Spirit that dwelt in them. This is 
the way, in my judgment, the Holy Spirit testified 
with our spirit that we were children of God. This 
makes the matter quite plain enough for anyone 
to see the truth of what we have said. 

We give another that is considered by some 
unanswerable from my standpoint : '' Now if any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of 
his.' -Rom. viii : 9. The above passage seems to be 
opposed to the argument presented in this chapter, 
and is the strongest to be found in the Bible in fa- 
vor of the doctrine of the (present) in-dwelling of 
the Holy Spirit, therefore if we succeed in wresting 
this stronghold from them the victory will be easy. 
We will then affirm, first, that the Holy Spirit was 
imparted to those who were able to do signs, etc.: 
secondly, that this was called ''the spirit in the 
body," "the spirit dwelling in the temple,'' etc. 
We deny that anyone was able to do these signs 
without the Spirit of God, and that no man had 
the Spirit of God who did not work signs, miracles. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. l77 

etc. These things have never been controverted 
since the days of miracles, and we imagine that it 
will be thonght too late to discuss them now. 

We now call your attention to the language of 
the scripture itself : "Now if any man nave not the 
Spirit of Christ he is none of his.'' I admit that 
the context seems to indicate that every one should, 
or must receive the Spirit of God, but that it does 
not say this, all will admit ; but it does say that 
we must have the Spirit of Christ (annointed one), 
then if we are Christians we are annointed ones, 
and all possess the spirit of Christianity, or the 
spirit (mind) in unison with the entire brother- 
hood of disciples. This, in my judgment, was 
what the apostles' language indicated, for he im- 
mediately refers to the Spirit that was in those 
inspired men in the church at Rome, and saye : "If 
the spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the 
dead dwell in you. He that raised up Jesus shall 
also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that 
dwelleth in you." You will observe the difference 
in the terms employed by the apostle: he first 
Bays, "if any man/' etc., but immediately changes 
to, "if the spirit of God dwell in you/' etc. Besides, 
we must remember that those who translated the 
scriptures were believres in the doctrine that we 
have been opposing, and were tlierefore liable to 



178 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

render these passages in such a manner as to con- 
form to these views. 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (fidelity), 
meekness, temperance ; against such there is no 
law.' -Gal. v: 22. I know there are a great many 
people who think the apostle was here talking 
about fruit produced in us by the Holy Spirit. I 
have even been associated with ministers who had 
the same idea of it ; but I do not believe it ; the 
context shows conclusively that the apostle was 
contrasting the forces in man — physical and spir- 
itual. Beginning with the nineteenth verse, he 
tells us about the works (fruit) of the flesh (appe- 
tites and passions), as the exercise of the baser 
passions of the physical organism, but in the 
twenty-second verse he tells us about our spiritual 
desires, as the exercise of our spiritual organism. 

But our attention is called to another passage 
of scripture : " Because ye are sons, God hath sent 
forth the spirit of his (a) son into your hearts, 
crying, abba, father."-Gal. iv : 6. This passage 
teaches us but one thing, viz.: that every child of 
God possesses a spirit common to the entire broth- 
erhood, as we have before remarked. The sending 
of his Son's spirit into our hearts is accomplished 



THE F. VOLUTION OF A SFED. l79 

ill the same way that he sends tlie rain and sun- 
shine — by the operation of the natural laws gov- 
erning such things. To illustrate : A man may be 
a strong Republican, but suddenly changes to a 
Democrat; with his change, if he is sincere, he 
will receive what we call the spirit of Democracy, 
but we do not mean that some great Democrat 
stands at the throne of Democracy, and by a spe- 
cial act on each convert infuses into his heart the 
spirit of Democracy, but by the natural laws gov- 
erning sympathy and association — affinity. We 
now close this part of the subject, promising in 
the next chapter to conclude with the New Birth. 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE NBW BIRTH. 

"Jesus answered, veril}', veril}' I say unto thee, except a man 
be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into tlie 
kingdom of God.'" — John, tit: 5. 

ALTHOUGH the phrase 'MS^ew Birth'' is not 
found in the Bible, yet men for eighteen cen- 
turies have been discussing it, and there seems to 
be as great a difference between theologians of 
to-day concerning this subject and the scriptures 
which support it, as there has been at any time 
since it was first taught. 

The above passage was spoken by the Savior 
while in the world, and as he taught nothing to 
the world except by parables and metaphors, this 
language spoken to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, 
therefore partook of the metaphorical. We have 
learned but two methods by which we can ascer- 
tain the meaning of these metaphors : 1, By his 
own explanation to his disciples ; 2, By the teach- 
ing of his apostles after they became inspired. 
This passage, with almost the entire context, is 
admitted to be highly figurative. Let us then, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 181 

preparatory to applying the above rules, undertake 
an analysis of the passage. 1, The kingdom of 
God referred to was evidently the church Jesus 
promised to build, and of which (as the kingdom 
of heaven) he gave Peter the keys. 2, This being 
true, it follows that whatever is meant by the 
birth, must be admitted to be necessary to an en- 
trance into the kingdom of God. 

We note in the third place, that he is talking 
about a birth, not about the entire process of gen- 
eration, or regeration. Here, I think, lies the trouble 
with theologians, and a mistake here in the begin- 
ning, means a mistake all the way through the 
entire creed. Doctors of divinity have tried to 
show the harmony of their construction of this 
passage with the rest of the scriptures, but have 
failed, which accounts for so much infidelity in 
the world to-day. 

^ In the fourth place we find two elements men- 
tioned in the verse, viz., water and spirit, indicating, 
as I think, that as man is dual in his organism, 
the two elements are adapted to his situation, for 
we have previously learned that man sustains both 
a physical and spiritual relation. Therefore, if 
man should be born of one of these elements there 
could be but one organism born, hence but half of 
the man, so to speak, would be born. 



jg2 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

We then conclude that Jesus meant just what 
he said, and that was, that "except a man be bom 
of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the 
kingdofti of God." Are we in the kingdom of God^ 
If so, we entered by what Jesus commanded as a 
birth of water and spirit. Jf we are not in the 
kingdom, it is because we have never been bom of 
water and spirit. 

In the fifth place, it seems that the Lord has 
made our happiness depend on our entering into 
the kingdom of God. If this is true, it follows 
that all who remain out of the kingdom of God 
will be unhappy. It also follows, as logically, also, 
that all who are not born of water and spirit will 

be unhappy. 

The analysis discloses: 1, That the term king- 
dom, as used here, was the church that Jesus 
promised to build. 2, He gave Peter the keys. 
3 That he taught Nicodemus that a birth was 
necessary to enter into it. 4, That water and 
spirit, the two elements, are adapted to man as he 
is 5, That our happiness depends on our enter- 
ing into the kingdom of God, or church, and our 
entering in depends on a birth, and therefor our 
happiness depends on our being born of water and 
spirit. We have repeated this in order to fix it in 
the minds of our readei-s. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 183 

We wish now to discuss the necessary prerequi- 
sites to such birth. As natural, physical genera- 
tion required certain prerequisites, such as father, 
mother, and the seed, so it is in spiritual genera- 
tion — regeneration. 

In the preceding chapters we learned that man 
was a child of nature, therefore he has a being 
even before he is required to be born again. Then 
as he has an existence already, the causes of his 
being, existed before him and were necessary to 
his existence. But this physical existence does 
not entitle him to an entrance into the kingdom 
of God. Then furthermore, as man possesses a 
spiritual organism, similar causes were necessary 
to his existence spiritually, such as father, mother, 
and spiritual seed. This spiritual existence did 
not entitle the persons who possessed it to an en- 
trance into the kingdom of God. This spiritual 
existence was of two kinds, natural, normal spirit- 
ual, and unnatural, abnormal spiritual. The na- 
tural, normal had God for his father, and was a 
child of God, and the unnatural, abnormal had 
Satan for his father (being the result of evil influ- 
ences), and was called the child of the devil. Such 
states of being existed prior to the advent of Christ 
into the world, but neither one was sufficient to 
qualify us for membership in the kingdom of God. 



184 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

These various states of being were possessed by 
the Jews to whom Jesus said : " Ye are of your 
father, the devil, and his works ye will do." If 
men are the children of the devil it is because he 
is their father, and the kingdom of Satan must be 
their adopted mother, because they have been en- 
ticed away from their natural mother, the govern- 
ment of Grod. Tills was done by what Peter calls 
"beguiling (winning by deceit) unstable souls." 
Their spirits are born out one relation into another. 
To complete the metaphor: Who then, is our 
spiritual father? James answers the question by 
saying : " With his own will begat he us with the 
word of truth.' -James, i : 18. This settles the ques- 
tion of our spiritual paternity. 

Just here some one may be anxious to know just 
how he begets us with the word of truth? Paul 
answers this, by saying: "Though ye have ten 
thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not 
many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten 
you through the gospel.-l Cor. iv : 15. 

Who is our spiritual adopted mother? Paul an- 
swers this question : " For it is written, that Abra- 
ham had two sons, the one by a bond-maid, the 
other by a free-woman. But he who was of the 
bond-woman was born after the flesh (without 
promise), but he of the free-woman was by promise. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 185 

Which things are an allegory ; for these are the 
two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which 
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar (Hagar); 
for this Agar (Hagar) is Mount Sinai in Arabia, 
and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is 
in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem 
which is above is free, which is the mother of us 
alir-Gal, iv : 22-26. This settles the question of our 
maternity ; it is ''the Jerusalem which is above." 

But some one might desire to ask what was, or is 
that Jerusalem which is above?" As we have re- 
lied on Paul in other matters, we have his inter- 
pretation of this identical language ; hear him : 
"But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the 
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ('Jeru- 
salem which is above'), and to an innumerable 
company of angels ; to the general assembly and 
church of the first tom."-Heb. xii : 22-23. The care- 
ful reader will observe that the apostle uses these 
terms interchangeably with kingdom, general as- 
sembly, and church of the first born — church of 
Christ. Therefore the kingdom of God, church 
of God, is our (adopted) mother. 

Having discovered our parents, God as our fa- 
ther and his kingdom as our mother, we proceed 
to ascertain the remaining item, the seed. It will 
be admitted that the seed of every vegetable is in 



186 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

itself ; that all animals, and every living thing pos- 
sesses the power of reproducing itself by this 
means. Now, if we know this, and admit that the 
kingdom of God is a reality, we will be forced to 
admit that it must have similar means of propaga- 
tion and perpetuation. This means is the seed of 
the kingdom — the word of God. (See Matt, xiii.; 
Mark, iv, and Luke, viii.) Concerning the parable 
of the sower : in one place he calls the word the 
seed of the kingdom, and in Matt, xiii : 38, he calls 
"the children the good seed of the kingdom, but 
the tares are the children of the wicked one." We 
therefore conclude that sinners only, prior to be- 
ing born again, were children of Satan, hence the 
necessity of being born of water and spirit. 

Since then, we have discovered that the word of 
God is the seed of the kingdom, we are able to un- 
derstand how Paul could beget the Corinthians, 
through the gospel. The gospel and the word of 
God were synonymous, or equivalents. 

Having settled the prerequisites, we will now 
undertake a solution of the birth, as taught in our 
text. As Jesus is here speaking of a. birth only, 
as I think I have clearly shown, we will then ex- 
amine it in the light of that fact. A birth signi- 
fies a coming forth, out of something of which 
we are to be born. As water stands fii^st in the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 187 

order of the words in the sentence, we will exam- 
ine its connection first. In doing so, I congratulate 
myself on the fact that I find it agreeable with my 
mind to agree with Drs. Adam Clark, Calvin, Wes- 
ley, Luther, and a host of other modern authors, 
while it is a well-known fact that all writers among 
the ancient Christians held to the idea that it was 
a direct allusion to water baptism. I know that 
there are x^reachers who delight in setting aside 
the decisions of these great men on these questions, 
which would be excusable were they to prove 
themselves reasonable and consistent. 

If this birth of water has its solution in the act 
of baptism, there can be but one way to be born 
of water. [Acts, viii : 38.] A burial and resurrec- 
tion in bai^tism is a beautiful representation of a 
birth. This, however, is but a part of the birth — 
a birth of the physical man only. As man pos- 
sesses, or sustains a spiritual relation in the world, 
besides this, Jesus has made it necessary for him 
to be born of spirit — for his spirit to come out of 
this unlawful spiritual relation. 

The man proper, could not in the nature of things 
be born of one of these elements only, or Jesus 
would not have required him to be born of both 
water and spirit. Man physically is not under the 
control or dominion of sin, or Satan, except as it is 



188 THE TAPER WHEEL, OR 

subject to the man's own will ; but that men are 
under the dominion of sin spiritually, should not 
be denied, since it has been determined that sin- 
ners are the children of the wicked one. Therefore, 
when the will of the man is subdued by the word 
of truth, he is begotten by it ; and when this will, 
or spirit force of the man yields to the will, or 
spirit force employed by the Lord in the earth, we 
conclude his spirit frees itself from the bondage of 
sin by the consummating act of obedience — bap- 
tism. These two acts are simultaneous ; while the 
spirit is being freed from the power of Satan, his 
body is born of water, thus indicating to the world 
the desire of the soul to obey every precept of the 
divine mind. The birth of water, or baptism, is 
visible, by which act we are enabled to judge of 
the man's willingness to conform to the teaching 
of the word of God, and shows the effect of the 
word of God on his heart. 

When a man desires to be baptized, it proves 
that he has been brought to this state of mind 
through the word of truth — begotten by it; but 
where a man refuses to be baptized, it is because 
he is under the influence of the opposite of truth. 
As proof of the above statement, we quote : "As 
many as gladly received his word were baptized, 
and the same day were added to them about three 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 189 

thousand sonls.'-Acts, ii :41. "But when they be- 
lieved Philip preaching the things concerning the 
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Clirist, 
they were baptized, both men and women.'-Acts, 
viii;12. "What doth hinder me to be baptized? 
If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. 
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.' - 
Acts, viii : 37-38. 

The reverse side : " But the pharisees and law- 
yers rejected the counsel of God, against them- 
selves, being not baptized of him.'-Luke, vii : 29-30. 
"And he said unto them : Full well ye reject the 
commandment of God that ye may keep your own 
tradition. "-Mark, vii: 9. 

Having thoroughly analyzed the Savior's lan- 
guage in John iii : 5, and the necessary application 
of it according to its legitimate construction, we 
proceed to notice the application of the rulee laid 
down in the beginning of this chapter, viz.: In his 
parables and metaphors we would be unable to 
arrive at a correct understanding without, (1) Jesus' 
explanation, or, (2) The preaching of the apostles 
by inspiration. Then as Jesus offered no solution 
of this question to his disciples, in private, we con- 
clude that rule No. 1 will be rejected. We can, 
however, use his statements in other places and ar- 
rive at a comparative knowledge of what he meant. 



190 

Let us then compare with the text, Matt, xviii : 3 : 
" Except ye be converted and become as a little 
child, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." 
By comparison, we learn that a man cannot get 
into the kingdom without a birth of water and 
spirit, and he cannot get into the kingdom without 
conversion. We conclude, therefore, a birth of 
water and spirit is equivalent to conversion, and 
vice versa, unless a man can be in the kingdom 
and not be converted, or be converted and get into 
the kingdom without being born of water and 
spirit, which would be a contradiction of the Bible. 

But were we to pursue our investigations no 
further, we would not be able to understand suffi- 
ciently to be satisfied, for I presume the term con- 
version is about as difficult to understand as to be 
born of water and spirit. 

Then let us take another passage : " Not every 
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the 
will of my Father which is in heaven."-Matt. vii: 21. 
By this passage we learn that the man that does 
the will of God will enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. We furthermore conclude that the man 
that is born of water and spirit enters in, and he 
that is converted enters in, and the man that does 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 191 

the will of God enters in, which makes all these 
conditions equivalent. 

If we can ascertain what is meant by the will of 
God, we can at the same time know what is meant 
by conversion, and also of being born of water and 
spirit. Where, then, shall we learn what the will 
of God is? I presume Jesus would be good au- 
thority in an answer to this question. John, the 
apostle, said : "Jesus came to his own and his own 
received him not, but as many as received him, to 
them gave he power to become the sons (children) 
of God, even to them that believed in his name, 
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of the man, but of (the 
will of) God."-John, i : 12-13. Here we have proof 
of the fact that to be born of water and spirit is 
equivalent to being converted, and doing the will 
of God, for John says that those who received him 
were born of the will of God. 

We also find in the commission, that Jesus com- 
manded the apostles to preach the gospel, by which 
Paul said he begat the Corinthians. Again, Peter 
preached to the Jews in the city of Jerusalem on 
the day of Pentecost, who gladly heard his word 
were baptized, they were born of water and spirit, 
were converted, did the will of God, for Peter, in 
writing to them afterward says: "Seeing ye have 



192 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

purified your souls in obeying the trutli through 
the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see 
that ye love one another with a pure heart, fer- 
vently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruphible, by the word of God that 
liveth and abideth forever. * * * And this 
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto 
you."-l Pet. i : 22-25. This passage teaches us that 
these were children of God, had obeyed the will 
of God, and had been born again, etc. 

This epistle is addressed to the strangers scat- 
tered abroad throughout the regions of Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. By re- 
ferring to Acts, ii : 9-10, we find an account of the 
presence of just such strangers from the same 
countries mentioned, and as Peter never visited 
those countries, it is reasonable to suppose that 
they were born, obeyed the will of God, on that 
day. By reading down to the forty -second verse 
we learn what was required of them, and just what 
they did. Peter preached the gospel to them, and 
concluded by saying : " Therefore let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that 
same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ. 
When they heard this they were pricked in their 
hearts and cried out. Men and brethren, what shall 
we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 193 

be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall re- 
ceive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "-Acts, ii : 36-41. 

Now, if they were born again, and entered into 
the kingdom of God, and purified their souls in 
obeying the truth, etc., by repenting and being bap- 
tized for the remission of sins, it seems that we 
might do the same things, in the same way, and 
enjoy the consequences as they did. 

We learn then, that those who obeyed the truth 
—gospel — purified their souls; and that obedi- 
ence was required by Peter on the day of Pentecost, 
as quoted above, "Repent and be baptized every 
one of you, in the naine of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
mission of sins," therefore this obedience made 
them servants of God.-Rom. vi:16. If servants, 
then heirs ; and if heirs, then sons ; if sons, it is 
because they have been born to God — born of 
Avater and spirit. 

Peter continues his epistle to these same by say- 
ing : "As new born babes, desire the sincere milk 
that you may grow thereby."-! Pet. ii : 2. That 
these persons were in the kingdom of God, none 
can successfully deny, because the apostle acknowl- 
edges that they were born again, and Jesus says 
those who were born of water and spirit should 
enter in. Because, furthermore, that Jesus taught 



194 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

that by conversion men were to get into the king- 
dom, and these had been converted. And further- 
more, because Jesus taught that by doing the will 
of God men were to enter in, and these persons 
had obeyed the will of God, for Peter tells them 
that they had purified their souls in obeying the 
truth -1 Pet. i: 22. 

One other passage on this feature of the subject, 
and we shall have done with it : "And J, brethren, 
could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as 
unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."-1 Cor. 
iii:l. The above passage teaches that there is 
a certain stage in Christianity called "babes in 
Christ." These Corithians, then, were babes in 
Christ. How did they become such? Certainly 
by being born into such relation. The phrase, in 
Christ expresses a certain relation as a son, that we 
sustain to God as our father, and Christ as our 
elder brother. But how were these Corinthians 
born as babes, etc ? Luke answers this question in 
his account of their conversion. After stating that 
Paul went out of the synagogue and entered into 
the house of one Justus and preached there : "And 
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed 
on the Lord, with all his house, and many of the 
Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized.''- 
Acts, xviii : 8. Hence we reason, that if they were 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 195 

babes in Christ, it was because they were born of 
water and spirit, and if they were born of water 
and spirit, it must have been done when they 
heard, believed, and were baptized. I certainly 
think this is sound, logical reasoning. 

Thus have we shown by comparing the parallel 
passages that Jesus meant just what the apostles 
afterwards taught and required of persons in order 
to be saved ; therefore we conclude that since to 
be born of water and spirit was necessary to enter 
into the kingdom of God, it was also necessary to 
be born of water and spirit in order to be saved. 

We wish now to call attention to the subject of 
the birth of the spirit, as taught by the Savior in 
John, iii:8: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, 
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it cometh and wither it goeth ; so is 
every one that is born of the spirit," Some of my 
own brethren believe and teach that this has refer- 
ence to the influence of the Holy Spirit in beget- 
ting us, but we beg to state that he is not talking 
about the entire process of begetting, but merely 
a birth, therefore the birth of the spirit cannot 
allude to this. Some others contend for a different 
rendering of the word pneuma, instead of wind (as 
we have it in the common version) ; they require 
it rendered spirit. It would then read. The spirit 



196 

breathes where it listeth ( pleases) ; thou hearest 
the voice thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
Cometh and whither it goeth ; so is every one that 
is born of the spirit, It matters very little to us 
which of these two renderings we adopt, as neither 
one interferes with the sense of the author. I 
think the verse in question is designed as an illus- 
tration of the thought set forth in verses three and 
five. Jesus had been talking to him about being 
born again, but he did not understand it — mar- 
veled at it. But in order to show his inconsistency 
in wondering at this doctrine, Jesus proceeds to 
tell him about the blowing of the wind, as much 
as to say, now I have told you about the necessity 
of being born again and you wonder greatly at it, 
and yet the wind has been blowing for hundreds 
of generations and yet men do not wonder at it. 

I maintain that the lesson intended to be taught 
by this verse is this ? As the term " so," is an ad- 
verb of manner, and modifies the manner of being 
born, it is also a conjunctive adverb, and connects 
the two propositions in the verse, showing by com- 
parison, that as the blowing of the wind, or breath- 
ing of the spirit was an invisible action producing 
a visible effect, so the man's spirit, being freed 
from the bondage of sin — born (out) of it — is an 
invisible action producing a visible effect. This is 



I 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 197 

made very clear by reference to Paul's case as an 
example: "But when it pleased God, who sepa- 
rated me from my mother's womb (evidently nature, 
the Jewish covenant, or the bondage of sin), and 
called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, 
that I might preach him among the heathen," etc,- 
Gal. i : 15-16. By referring to Paul's version of it 
as recorded by Luke in Acts, we have the follow- 
ing order, viz.: 1, Jesus appeared to Saul near 
Damascus; Saul saw and talked with him. In 
this conversation, Saul was begotten. 2, Saul re- 
mained in Damascus three days, during which 
time his soul was travailing in pain. But when 
Ananias came in the name of the Lord, he told 
him to "arise and be baptized and wash away thy 
sins." Thus was Saul born, or separated from his 
mother's womb. Being brought from a state of 
darkness to light, from death to life, etc., is called 
a birth, as in the case of Jesus when he was raised 
from the dead ; he was called the first born from 
the dead.-Coll. i : 18. Paul's obedience was like it. 



CHAPTER Xm. 

THE ESTABLISHIMENT OE 
THE CHURCH. 

"And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth shall be loosed in heaven." — Matt. xvi:18-19. 

THE above passage of scripture records a con- 
versation in which we find the beginning of 
a series of wonderful revelations concerning Jesus 
and his mission in the world. In the verse pre- 
ceding our text, we find the confession by Peter 
that Jesus was " the Christ the son of God." Jesus 
not only revealed the fact that he was going to 
build his church, but gives us the means by which 
he will consummate it — his own death and resur- 
rection. But he immediately enjoins secrecy on 
their part by forbidding that they should preach 
this to any man. This conversation took place 
A.D. 32. As Jesus used the verb "will build," in- 
dicating future tense, we conclude that the church 
could not have been in existence prior to A. D. 32. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 199 

We wish to offer a few suggestions in support 
of the idea that the "church," as used in this pass- 
age, is synonymous with the phrase "kingdom of 
heaven," as used in the same connection. In the 
first place, I reason that since they are intimately 
connected in the same verse, therefore they are 
the same. In the second place, the promise of 
Jesus to Peter, that he would give him the keys to 
the kingdom of heaven, shows it. And in the 
third place, Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, 
tells us that the church was "built on the founda- 
tion of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner- stone."- Eph. ii:20. We 
reason that if the church was built on the apostles, 
it was because it was built on their inspired testi- 
mony, hence the foundation. Now, if the church 
was built on this foundation, and the church and 
kingdom are not the same, please tell me what 
the kingdom was built upon ? It being a different 
institution, could not rest on the apostles, prophets, 
nor Jesus Christ, for they were the foundation of 
•the church. This, we think, is sufficient for this 
point at present. 

The next features to which we desire calling 
your attention are : (1) The time when, and (2) the 
place where, the church was built, or established. 
According to the Savior's language in the text, it 



200 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

did not exist then as a church, for he said he 
would build it. If this position is correct, then all 
the theories about the covenants between the Fa- 
ther and Son in the council chambers of eternity 
before the world began, and also about the estab- 
lishment of the church in the days of Abraham, 
are far-fetched and without foundation in truth. 
One thing we feel assured of, and that is, that the 
establishment of the church was not prior to the year 
32 of the present era ; it might have been subsequent 
but could not have existed in the world prior to that 
time, if so, Christ used language which was liable 
to deceive and mislead the disciples. Let us then 
search a little more closely and try to determine 
this matter, for a great deal more depends on a 
proper understanding of it than many imagine. 
Isaiah said : " It shall come to pass in the last days 
that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be es- 
tablished in tops of the mountains, and shall be 
exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow 
unto it. And they shall say : Come and let us go 
up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of 
the God of Jacob," etc.-Isa. ii : 2-4. This passage 
teaches us that at a time called the ''last days" a 
certain institution called the " house of the God of 
Jacob," should be established. 

The points to be determined by us are, what is 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 201 

meant by "the last days," and "mountain of the 
house of God." By referring to Micah, iv : 4, we 
find about the same language as that of Isaiah; 
but Joel, in speaking of the same time and events, 
says : " It shall come to pass afterward I will pour 
out my spirit upon all flesh," etc. Peter, in his 
memorable discourse on the day of Pentecost, said : 
" This is that which was spoken by the prophet, 
Joel : And it shall come to pass in the last days,'" 
etc.- Acts, ii; 17-21. Peter here defines what Joel 
said. We therefore conclude that the time had 
come when Joel's prophecy was fulfilled, and also, 
the time for the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. 
If Joel, ii:28, refers to the same time and events 
that Isaiah does (which is certainly true), then we 
can make no mistake if we apply it to the same 
time and events that Peter did. 

But an objector might admit that these prophets 
allude to the same things, but neither one alludes 
to the establishment of the church. Let us see : 
Isaiah calls the institution to be established in the 
last days, the mountain of the Lord's house, and 
says that the people shall call it the house of the 
God of Jacob. We now inquire if a man who has 
any knowledge of the Bible can fail to see and 
know just what the prophet is talking about ? But 
for the sake of those who are not acquainted witli 



202 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

the teaching of the Bible on this subject, we will 
examine a few texts relating to this phrase. Paul, 
in speaking of the faithfulness of MoBes and his 
house, refers to Christ as a son over his own house, 
"whose house are we, if we hold fast, etc.-Heb. 
iii:6. This scripture informs us that Christians 
are constituted the house of God. But still, some 
would claim that the language is not sufficiently 
clear. Very well, Peter says : " Ye also as lively 
(living) stones are built up a spiritual house," etc. 
-1 Pet. ii : 5. This informs us that Christians are 
not only the house of the Lord, but states that 
they are a "spiritual house." 

But, continues our objector, if I could find where 
it says that the house of God was the church, I 
would consider the question settled. Very well, 
my friend, hear Paul again: "But if I tarry long 
that thou mightest know how thou onghtest to 
behave thyself in the house of God, which js the 
church of God, the pillar and ground of the truth.' - 
1 Tim. iii : 15. This should settle the question for- 
ever, for he says the house of God is the church 
of God. 

Now, Isaiah said eight hundred years B. C. that 
this house — church — should be established, and 
we have found that it had been established in 
Paul's day. But Isaiah said it should be estab- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 203 

lished at a certain time — last days. Peter on the 
day of Peneecost said that Joel's prophecy relating 
to the same time — last days — was that day ful- 
filled. If we are to judge the value of words 
by the laws governing human language, I would 

consider this proposition eternally settled beyond 
cavil. 

Having ascertained the meaning of the prophetic 

phrases, " house of God," and " last days," we shall 
proceed to locate the place where the church, or 
house of God was to be established. Let us appeal 
to Isaiah again. He says : " Behold I lay in Zion 
for a foundation, a stone, a trial stone, a precious 
corner-stone, a sure foundation ; he that belie vet h 
shall not make haste."-Isa. xxviii : 16. This pro 
phecy evidently relates to the foundation of an in- 
stitution not then in existence, for he says : I will 
lay in Zion a foundation, etc. This foundation was 
not a part of the Jewish covenant, for it was then 
in existence. Again' the church of Christ super- 
seded the Jewish institution; therefore if that 
foundation spoken of by Isaiah is in existence to- 
day, it must be the foundation of the church. I 
wish to note especially that he said the foundation 
should be laid " in Zion." Let us now call atten- 
tion to a part of the former quotation. "And the 
law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the 
Lord from Jerusalem. "-Isa. ii : 3. 



204 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

To return again to our original text, we learn 
that Jesus was contemi)lating the application of 
this prophecy when he said : " on this rock I will 
build my church," etc. This rock spoken of by 
the Savior, and the stone spoken of by Isaiah, cer- 
tainly referred to the same foundation ; and this 
being true they are the foundation of the same 
institution — the church of Christ. 

We learn, then, that Jerusalem was the place, 
and the Temple being situated on Mount Zion in 
this city, must have been the place alluded to as 
the Zion of prophecy. The facts show that the 
disciples were in the temple at the time of the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 
This furthermore agrees with the directions given 
them by the Savior, who said : " It behooved Christ 
to suffer and rise from the dead, and that repent- 
ance and remission of sins should be preached in 
his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem''' 
-Luke, xxiv : 45-47. They then tarried according 
to his word in the city of Jerusalem, until they 
received the promise of the Holy Spirit. 

From the above quotations we have learned : 
1, That "the house of God" in prophecy, was the 
church of God as we find it in the days of the apos- 
tles. 2, That the phrase "last days" in prophecy, 
was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. 3, That the 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 205 

phrase "Jerusalem and Zioii" in prophecy, were 
the (nty and the place, in the city of the Jerusalem, 
in the land of Palestine, in the days of the apostles 
of Christ 

We will next call attention to the idea that the 
church contained persons as members prior to the 
day of Pentecost. Having settled the time of its 
establishment on the day of Pentecost, it would 
seem unnecessary to consider this point at all, but 
the fact that it is preached, is a suJSicient argument 
in favor of noticing it at greater length. 

We then state it as a proposition, that the church 
of Christ assumed an organized form on the day 
of Pentecost. This implies that it was not in an 
organized form before that date. My reasons for 
believing this are^ 

1, That Jesus did not become its head till he was 
raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.- 
Eph.i: 20-22. 

2, There was no church till the foundation was 
laid, and that foundation contained the apostles 
and prophets, Jesus Christ ( the tried stone) himself 
being the chief corner-stone ; and Jesus was not 
tried before his death, but in his death ; and was 
"declared to be the Son of God according to the 
spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead." 
Neither could the disciples of Jesus prophesy till 



206 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

they received the Holy Spirit, ''lor Jenus was not 
yet glorified/ -John, vii : 89. And f urthennore, those 
who were set in the church first were inspired.'' 
See 1 Cor. xii : 28 ; Eph. ii : 20 ; Eph. ii : 10-13. 

8, That the church and kingdom being identical, 
the kingdom was without a king until he was 
raised from the dead and was seated on the right 
hand of God in heaven.-Eph. i : 21, ii : 8 ; Phil, ii : 
6; Col. i: 15-18. 

4, That if there had been a church in existence 
prior to Pentecost, there was no spirit in it for the 
reason already given ; the Holy Spirit was not yet 
given, for Jesus was not yet glorified.-John, vii : 89. 
Therefore, the principle that the body without the 
spirit is dead, would apply to the body — the 
church — in the same sense that it does to the hu- 
man body. 

5, That the constitution of the church was not 
made known till on this day. Jesus forbade the 
teaching that he was the Christ until after he was 
raised from the dead. 

6, The church and kingdom being the same, the 
keys having been promised to Peter, he had never 
used them till the day of Pentecost. Consequently 
on that day, Jesus having been coronated king in 
his holy mountain, there was a king. The time 
having come for the gospel to be promulgated, 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. !2()7 

there existed a constitution with which to govern 
his people. The people having united together, 
constituted themselves the church, or kingdom, 
hence they were his subjects. Then, and not till 
then, did we find the elements necessary to consti- 
tute it a kingdom, or church. 

7, My last, but not least, reason is, that the 
church did not belong to Jesus until he purchased 
it, and since he purchased it with his blood, he did 
not purchase it until he shed his blood ; therefore 
the church could not have had an existence prior 
to that time. See Eph. v : 26 ; Acts, x : 28. 

Thus we have found that the church was estab- 
lished at Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, and that it 
took place in the last days, and that Jesus and the 
apostles were the foundation of it, and this founda- 
tion was not laid till it was inspired, and hence 
the church had an inspired foundation. Therfore 
the gates of hell shall never prevail against it. 

In what name does it transact business^ An 
institution of such importance should have a name 
commensurate with its dignity and importance. 
Besides, a great many persons who are irreligious 
now, would become religious if they could deter- 
mine to their satisfaction which was the true 
church. Should I wish to send a large amount of 
money to some other country, and wanted to send 



208 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

it through, or by a certain express (-ompany, I 
would look for the company that did businesH in 
that name, All will admit that this would be 
safe, but men will not proceed in religious matters 
in the same way that they are willing to admit 
would be safe when applied to our financial inter- 
ests. But an objection might be urged against 
this rule by saying that a body of impostors could 
organize and adopt the name of "the church of 
God," or '^of Christ," but would in reality be a^con- 
gregation of hypocrites. Suppose I admit this, 
would this circumstance justify a change in the 
name of the church? Should you answer, yes, I 
would ask if a number of robbers and pickpockets- 
should band together and call themselves The 
Texas Express Company would it justify a change 
in the name in which they had formerly done 
business? I think not, for this would be almost 
equivalent to an admission that they had been 
guilty of doing business under a name to which 
they were not entitled, and that the thieves were 
the rightful owners of that name. Should you 
say, no, I would then ask, why have so many 
names been adopted i Those who have helped in 
multiplying the different religious organizaations 
are directly guilty of keeping a great many good 
people out of the church, and will have to answer 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 209 

for it in the great day of accounts. Inspiration 
has given it the name of the " Church of God," or 
"Church of Christ." I, for one, would be unwill- 
ing to change the name if I were able to do so. 

Some would excuse themselves by claiming to 
be only a branch of this church; but I fail to 
find anything about branch churches in the Bible, 
therefore it is not only unscriptural to wear these 
different names, but also to talk about things that 
divide and subdivide us. You, perhaps, insist that 
there is nothing in a name, but I think you are 
mistaken. 

Now for the proof. Two church members of 
different organizations meet in oral debate on the 
points of difference. A. is a Baptist; B. is a 
Methodist. The question in controversy is church 
identity. They begin the debate with the under- 
standing that each admits the other to be a mem- 
ber of a branch of the church — both Christians. 
But finallv the debate closes; Sunday morning 
comes and the people assemble for worship, and 
the table is spread ; the emblems of the body and 
blood of the Savior are prepared for distribution. 
There are present Baptists, Methodists, Presbyte- 
rians, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Catholics. 
A. presides at the table. A majority of the people 
having decided that there was nothing in a name, 



210 

he proceeds: "My friends, it is true this supper 
was instituted for Christians, and I am willing to 
admit that I contended in the debate that you 
who differ from me are members of the different 
branches of the church and are therefore Chris- 
tians, but none except Baptists will be allowed to 

eat of this supper, and these Baptists must all be 
members of one local church. 

But the audience begins to remonstrate. B, 

standing up, says: "I thought, my brother, that 

you admitted that I was a Christian, and yet I am 

deprived of the liberty of communing with the 

Lord because you happen to be at the table. Now, 

sir, I wish to have a reasonable excuse for such 

conduct ; will you please give it ? 

Yes, I think I can satisfy all on this subject. 

You, Brother B., are a member of the Methodist 
church ; I doubt not that you were genuinely con- 
verted, and a good Christian, but your baptism is 

not the kind required by the Bible. 

Well, that should not make any difference, be, 

cause in a debate with brother C, the Christian 
minister, on the subject of the design of baptism, 
you labored very hard and I think very success- 
fully to show that baptism was a " non-essential," 
Now if it is a non-essential, I think we might all 

be regarded as children of God, and should all en- 
joy the highest privileges together. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 211 

Well, says brother A., it is a non-essential, but 
then it is necessary to get into the church. 

B. Into the branch of the Church you mean. 

A. No, into the church. 

B. O yes I understand, you mean to say that 

none except Baptists are in the church and that 
we are Christians as we are, but we cannot get in- 
to the church without receiving Baptist baptism, 
and yet as we are, we will all get to heaven ! 

A. Yes, that is my opinion. 

B. That being true I see no use of being in the 

Baptist Church, in fact I do not see any necessity 
for the church. 

A. The point I wish to make is, that you have 

not been scripturally baptized, you have not re- 
ceived the right baptism. 

B. You are mistaken again, for I was baptized 
by a regularly ordained Baptist Minister, and lived 
in the Baptist Church several years, and finally I 
lived in a place where there was a Methodist 
Church, but no Baptists and thinking there was 
nothing in a name I put my membership in with 

the Methodists. 

A. That may all be true but-but-you see, you 

were not a member of this congregation. 

B. Yes, I was a member of this local church 
when I went away and continued so until I united 
with the Methodists and shortly afterward I began 



212 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

preaching for them. 

A. That accounts for it then, when you joined 
the Methodists we " turned you out " of our church. 

B. Then I was turned out merely on account of 
the name Methodist I had adopted instead of the 
the name Baptist as formerly ? 

A. No, I have just examined the record and I see 
that the charge against you was " heresy. " 

B. Then I begin to discover that there is some- 
thing in a name, but I never knew before that 
Baptists regarded Methodists as christians and at 
the same time heretics. Now sir may I ask you if 
you believe that heretics are, or will be saved? 
Can a man be a christian and a heretic at the same 
time ? If so, there is no use in being a Baptist for 
as^ your church record shows, I am in your estima- 
tion a heretic and at the same time a christian. 

A. I do not want any argument. Let us drop 
it. 

Having discovered the name in which the child- 
ren of God did business during the apostolic age, 
and the necessity of perpetuating this name in or- 
der to avoid the confusion that others encountered 
who neglected it, we now proceed to ascertain 
what the Bible teaches concerning the name of the 
individuals as members of the great family — 
Church of God etc. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 218 

All must admit that it would be improper for a 
single individual to say that he was the Church of 
God etc., but that he was a member of the Church 
of God. But being a member of the family enti- 
tled him to the family name. What is the family 
name? It may be asked. 

This may be determined by the name of the 
head of the family-church. 

Paul says that Christ "is the head of the body 
the church." col. i. 18. 

Then if Christ is the head of the family he is 
the husband of the bride, and the church being 
the bride should take his name. In order to show 
that the family is already named I refer to Isaiah 
Ixii. 1-2, ''For Zion's sake will I not hold my 
peace, and Jerusalam's sake I will not rest, until 
the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness 
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii. 
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and 
all Kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a 
new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name. " 

In this passage the prophet mentions two things 
which the Lord will not do, until six other things 
are done, viz : 1 '' until the righteouness should go 
forth from Jerusalem. " We have shown that this 
was done by the preaching of the apostles after 
they had "received power from on high." 2 "The 



214 THE TAPER WHEEL, OR 

salvation (remission of sins) should go forth from 
Jerusalem. " Jesus understood this when he said 
that it was written that Christ should suffer and 
rise from the dead the third day and that repen- 
tance and remission of sins (salvation) should be 
preached in his name among all nations beginning 
(going forth) at Jerusalem, Luke xxiv, 45-47. 
Hence that has taken place already. 3 " And the 
Gentiles shall see thy righteousness." This was 
done when the Gentiles were permitted to hear 
the gospel by Peter as recorded in Acts x. This 
occured A. D. 41. 4 "And all Kings thy glory." 
This was done when the apostles were brought be- 
fore the Kings and other rulers to be tried etc. 
5 "And thou shall be called by a new name." 
This was evidently done atAntiochinthe year 44 of 
the Christian era. 6 "Which the mouth of the 
Lord shall name. " When a prophet of the Old 
Testament spoke anything it was said, " the mouth 
of the Lord hath spoken it." etc. We have seen 
then that these things have transpired as he said 
they would, and that the family name had been 
given. 

But to make this more clear I refer the reader 
to Eph. iii. 14-15. Paul here in speaking of Christ 
says : Of whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named. 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 215 

4 

Now if "the whole family — church is named" of 
him, or from him ; one could not be named one 
thing and another be named another without con- 
fusion. But since that name was given tlien, may 
we ask what it was ? Luke says they " w^ere called 
Christians first at Antioch," Acts xi. 26. The 
term called used in this passage is from xre- 
matizo, which signifies a divine warning, call; 
oracle etc. There is another word from which we 
get the term called which is kaleo but this word is 
never used when applied to God. The former is 
used ten times in the New Testament and in each 
instance it applies to God as a divine call. The 
latter is always used when applied to man. Hav" 
ing settled this parh of the controversy we proceed 
to answer an objection often made by our oppon- 
ents. They seem willing to wear the name Chris- 
tian but they doubt that it was given by divine 
authority. They say '' the enemies of Christ gave 
them the name Christian." To which I would 
say the facts in the case do not support the state- 
ment, because they show : "1. They assembled them- 
selves with the church about a year." 2. And 
taught much people. 3. " And the disciples were 
called Christians first at Antioch." If they had 
been called Christians by their enemies in derision, 
they would not have submitted to it, neither would 



216 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

they have adopted it; besides this, all professed 
followers of Christ for eighteen centuries have 
been and are contending for this name, though 
they may contend for another in connection with 
it, which I think is wrong, see 1 cor. i: 1-12. 

As another evidence against the position that 
the enemies of Christ did not call the disiples 
Christians first at Antioch, is the fact that Paul 
in preaching to King Agrippa, referred to the pro- 
position, doubtless upon this very subject (Isa Ixii 
1-2, Ixv: 15, lxvi:22.) when he cried out, "Paul al- 
most thou persuadeth me to be a Christian." 
When we understand that Agrippa and Paul were 
good friends we think this will be more apparent. 
But as stronger evidence of this position, we refer 
to Peter's language in his first epistle to his breth- 
ern who were subjected to all manner of persecu- 
tions. He says : " Yet if man suffer as a Christian 
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in 
this name 1 Pet. iv:16. (revised version.) Here 
Peter instructs them to glorify God in this name. 
The Corinthians could not glorify God in Paul's, 
or any other name. Hence he told them they were 
"carnal and walked as men?" If to wear any 
other name than that which was authorized by the 
word of God was wrong then, it is wrong now. 

Still another evidence of the truth of my posi- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. '217 

tioii lie.^ in the fact that Peter and Paul commend 
ed and required the people to wear, and suffer* for, 
this name, and yet Paul condemn!^ these Corinth- 
ians for wearing other names than the one tliat 
had been given them by ''the mouth of the Lord." 

We have still another witness since the things 
which the prophet foretold came to pass just as he 
said they would, and that too, more than eighteen 
centuries ago. And since in the order of words 
there was nothing to indicate the postponement 
of any part of it ; we conclude that his ser- 
vants were Christians at that time and that the 
mouth of the Lord named them. Otherwise that 
part of the prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, 
and hence are still without the new name. An- 
other evidence is, since Jesus Christ is the head of 
the body-family, it should seem reasonable to every 
one that the bride-the church-members of his 
body-the church-the family-should wear the same 
name. That our elder brother's name is Christ 
suggest the idea that we being members of the 
same family should wear the same name. 

The term Christ is from the Greek word Xristos, 
signifying anointed one. Every priest, before he 
could serve had to be anointed ; the members of 
the body of Christ are called a royal priesthood a 
holy nation etc 1 Pet. '2 : 5. Jesus has the pre-(an- 



218 THE PAPE] 

ineiice over us becaiise he as the first-born has the 
position of high priest while we are of the com- 
mon priesthood. 

Again it is said that Christ is the lamb of Gorl, 
is the shepherd of the sheejj, we being the sheep. 
As the shepherd he has promised to call his sheep 
by name and tliey shall hear his voice and follow 
him, John x : 3-10. Now if Jesus were to gather 
Jews and Gentiles together and have one shepherd 
and one slieep fold, what do you think they should 
be called^ Has he ever called them by name^ 
Will the sectarian organizations of the world an- 
swer this question. We maintain that he called 
them by name at Antioch and they follow-ed him 
in this and do till this day. O ! then let us hide 
ourselves behind the cross of Christ and sue for 
his forgiveness for having ignored his authority. 
We then understand that the kingdom of God, in 
being established on the earth was simply extend- 
ed with all its priviliges to man. That it was es- 
tablished on the day of Pentecost, in the city of 
Jerusalem. That the name given to it was, and is 

'' The Church of God " etc. That the name given 
to the individual members of the body-the church 
was " Christian. " Reader are you a Christian ? If 
not then fly to his loving arms. He stands with 
outstretched hands to receive you, trust him, obey 
him and be saved. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE RESURRECTION. 

CONCLUSION. 

"Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all 
that are in their graves shall hear his voice; And shall come 
forth: The}' that have done good to the resurrection of life: 
and the}' that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation." 
John v: 28-29. 

HAVING, in the begiiming of this work, en- 
deavored to examine the fundamental or prime 
causes of all things with which we have been as- 
sociated, and I may say, to some extent at least, 
acciuainted. And having, as we think, traced the 
various effects through familiar channels or lines of 
thought back to their original causes, and in each 
of these lines of thought we think we discovered 
unmistakable evidence of design. And as intelli- 
gence is discovered distributed among the effects 
we logically conclude that intelligence must have 
existed prior to the intelligent effects which dem- 
onstrates that they originated with and continue 
under the control of an intelligent uncaused cause. 
We also showed that the creation was a calling 



220 THE PAPP:]t whp:el, or 

into another form the things that already existed. 
We showed as we think that there was nothing in 
the material or immaterial elements subject, or lia- 
ble to annihilation, and while the material ele- 
ments were subjec^t to the processes of evapora- 
tion, decomposition etc., they were merely convert- 
ed into another form, hence the doctrine of the 
convertibility of the properties of matter. We 
furthermore showed that while it was true that 
any form of force could be augmented or multi- 
plied in various forms, yet denied the convertibil- 
ity of forces in the sense that in the nature of 
things they were susceptible of (change. 

Showed also where as I think a popular error 
has crept into our theology, concerning the age of 
the patriarchs. The true and false theory of evo- 
lution. By 1. The evolution of a vegetable seed. 
2. The evolution of an animal seed. 3. The evo- 
lution of a spiritual seed. We think we showed 
also that the forces which operated in organizing 
all things in the beginning are, and have all the 
time been, capable of perpetuating all things eter- 
nally, but for a failure of the application of the 
necessary means of perpetuation we have disease, 
decay and death. 

We now propose to treat of the subject of the 
resurrection. To undertake to set forth the differ- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. '221 

ent views that are entertained by all classes of 
religious people would require more space than 
we propose to devote to this subject, but want 
to note that some assume that because a man is 
not a saint he will remain in the grave and 
will not come to life, while others believe that in 
case a man possesses the Holy Spirit at death, this 
same spirit will raise him from the grave. Still 
others believe that there will be a resurrection of 
both the wicked and righteous. 

The latter I believe to be correct. The language 
of our text teaches it. All inspiration declares it. 
Science supports and I may say demonstrates it. 
But there are scientific minds who deny it, but I 
think this is because they have never applied their 
lamp of scientific reasoning on this subject with 
the same assiduity that they have in other things. 
It is a well known fact that all Atheists among 
the scientists, believe that all life and intelligence 
originated with inorganic dead matter, and that 
under certain conditions it produced life which 
has since produced all that is incident to it. Now 
I maintain that if that is a reasonable proposition, 
the one presented in this chapter is more so. 
Since if it were possible for life to originate with 
lifeless inorganic matter, why should it be thought 
increditable for our bodies to be raised again from 



222 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

the dead ? It requires no greater stretch of the 
imagination to believe the latter than the former. 
We cannot say that we understand just now the 
dead will be raised from their graves, but we know 
that some power or force will have to be brought 
to bear upon them, something greater than the 
forces that are understood in physical science. 
Jesus said : " The hour is coming. " The time then 
for accomplishing this greatest of all wonders had 
not come. " When all that are in their graves. " 
Those evidently that are dead whether they were 
buried by gentle hands or swallowed up by the 
tornado or earthquake. " Shall all hear his voice. " 
To hear his voice is to be aroused-be revived-be 
re-organized as we that are living, are now, with 
one exception, we will be immortal. The process 
of death will have under-gone the same change. 
" And shall come forth. " There seems to be no 
more permission of choice than there was given 
the individual in his birth into this world. We 
will come forth clothed with the power to live for- 
ever, but what that power is we do not know. 
Paul in speaking of his longing to be with Jesus, 
said: "And that I may know him, and the power 
of his resurrection." Phil. iii:10. Perhaps Paul, 
like most of us, desired to have absolute knowledge 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 2 '2 3 

of Jesus and his wonderful power by which he 
raised the dead, and if Paul did not know his 
power tRen we cannot in this life. Paul does how- 
ever give us the means by which the dead are 
raised. '' If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus 
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up 
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mor- 
tal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you." 
Rom. viii. 11. This passage seems to teach that 
the dead will be raised only by the the Holy Spirit. 
Just how the spirit is expected to act there might 
be a differenee of opinion, but most people have 
an idea based too, on this passage, that in order to 
be raised from the dead, the spirit of God will en- 
ter the bodies of all the dead which will raise them 
to life. I have three reasons for not believing 
this. 1, Because it is not reasonable. If our first 
parents were made alive in their creation by hav- 
ing the breath of lives breathed into their nostrils, 
does it not seem reasonable to suppose that the 
return of the same breath (spirit) of life (lives) 
make them alive from the dead? 2, Because if 
every man received the spirit of God in the resur- 
rection, would be equivalent to inspiration. Hence 
the wicked would be inspired as well as the right- 
eous. This would be entirely contrary to what 
these so-called orthodox ministers believe ; for if 



224 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

to receive the Holy Spirit here prepares one for 
membership and happiness in the church, would 
it not produce a similar result in us in the resurrec- 
tion ? 3, Because the facts in the case do not bear 
out the assertion. We give a few examples, viz: 
"And he said unto her. Give me thy son. And he 
took him out of her bosom, and carried him up 
into a loft where he abode and laid him upon his 
own bed. And he cried unto the Lord and said, 
O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon 
the widow with whom I sojourn by slaying her 
son? And he stretched himself upon the child 
three times and cried unto the Lord and said, O 
Lord my God, I pray thee let this child's soul 
(spirit) come into him again. And the Lord heard 
the voice of Elijah, and the soul (spirit) of the 
child came into him again and he revived." 1 
Kings xvii: 19, 22. 

The above passage teaches clearly just how this 
dead child was raised, simply by permitting his 
spirit to return to his body and he revived. 

Take another: "And when Elijah was come 
into the house behold the child was dead, and laid 
upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut 
the door upon the twain and prayed unto the 
Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child, 
and put his mouth, and his eyes, and his hands 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 225 

upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon 
the child and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 
Then he returned and walked in the house to and 
fro, and he went up and stretched himself upon 
him ; and the child sneezed seven times, and the 
child opened his eyes." 2 Kings iv: 32, 35. 

While this Scripture does not say that the 
child's spirit came to it, yet it is a parallel case 
and must have been the same. 

Take one more: "And when he came into the 
house, he suffered no man to go in save Peter and 
James and John, and the father and the mother 
of the maiden. And all wept and bewailed her : 
but he said, weep not, she is not dead but sleepeth. 
And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she 
was dead. And he put them all out and took her 
by the hand and called, saying, Maid, arise. And 
her spirit came again and she arose straightway, 
and he commanded to give her meat." Luke viii : 
51, 55. 

This should be enough to convince any man 
that is seeking for the truth only. The only profit 
I may have in this investigation is that I may have 
the truth, and that is common property, and Jesus 
said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word shall be established." We have cer- 
tainly given you two very strong witnesses in favor 



226 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

of our position. In examining a portion of Scrip- 
ture on a given subject, it matters not what our 
opinions may be, we should always allow reason 
to be brought to bear on it, and should there ap- 
pear to be contradictory passages, we should take 
the plain ones to explain the difficult ones. By 
observing this rule we would explain Rom. viii: 
11, by Luke viii: 51, 55, and I Kings xviii: 32, 35. 
According to this rule, the spirit spoken of as 
" his " spirit is the human spirit which God gave 
man in his creation. 

Having discovered that the means necessary to 
raise the dead is simply a union of the physical 
and spiritual organisms, which would indeed be 
life from the dead ; as in the case of Adam, the 
child by Elijah, and the damsel by the Savior, 
we wish to note the next feature, viz: 

IMMORTALITY. 

This is more than a resurrection, hence the mis- 
take that a great many persons make, in not mak- 
ing a distinction between the resurrection and im- 
mortality. Immortality is a clothing of our na- 
ture with a spiritual nature instead of physical. 
This is the change spoken of in Thesalonians. 

There are some who contend that man as a hu- 
man being in the flesh is immortal, but this is an 
untenable position, for we see the opposite demon- 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 227 

strated every day. Death is a contradiction of 
this statement. 

FIRST RESURRECTION. 

There are some who believe that the first resur- 
rection is that resurrection from the baptism in 
water and that the resurrection from the dead 
would be the second resurrection. This is also 
untenable, 

First. Because our baptism is never called the 
first resurrection, and could not therefore be justly 
called the resurrection that John claimed to see 
in his vision. 

Second. Because those who have been baptized 
will die and have to be raised from the dead liter- 
ally, which would make two resurrections for 
them. 

Besides, the scriptures nowhere tell us anything 
about two resurrections for the same individual. 

John says : '' But the rest of the dead lived not 
again until the thousand years (had expired) were 
finished. This is the first resurrection.'' Bev. xx-5. 

From this scripture we learn that those who 
]iave been asleep in Jesus, and those who will 
be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, are 
called the first resurrection ; while the wicked with 
all those of all ages who are responsible and irre- 
sponsible by reason of their opportunities, capabil- 



228 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

ities and incapabilities as the case may be, will be 
in the second resurrection. It may be asked by 
some, what will become of those of the second res- 
urrection? We will answer that by trying to cor- 
rectly interpret the Savior's language concerning 
the same. He says : " When the son of man shall 
in his glory and all the holy angels, then shall he 
sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him 
shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall separ- 
ate them as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the 
goats. And he shall set the sheep ( the innocent ) 
on the right hand, but the goats (guilty) on the 
left. " This language shows most conclusively 
that there are two classes to be judged at this 
time. 

These two classes have a little before this been 
raised from the dead, while another class had been 
raised before them. Now hear a confirmation of 
this. "Then shall the king say to those on his 
right hand, come ye blessed of my father inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world; for I was hungry and ye gave me 
meat, etc. " This shows that the kingdom of God 
was originally designed for those who would ex- 
ercise charity, do good for humanity and strive to 
live spotless lives. 

But they seem to signify their ignorance of this 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 'J 2 9 

matter, as though they thought it would be neces- 
sary to have done these thmgs to him in person. 
But he tells them that " inasmuch as ye did it to 
one of the least of these my brethern ye did it to 
me. " There are described here, two classes of in- 
nocent or righteous persons; for he says: ''Come 
ye " etc., and " inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my brethern. " You see 
clearly that there are two classes of the righteous, 
one is addressed as " ye " the other as " these, " both 
accepted by the Lord, but one is in the first resur- 
raction while the other is in the second. "Then 
shall he say also unto those on his left hand. 
"Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire 
prepared for the devil and his angels for I hunger- 
ed and ye gave me no meat." etc. Matt. xxv:31-46. 

This last quotation introduces a third class, the 
guilty or wicked. They will not all go to the same 
place for the sequel shows that " the wicked shall 
go away into everlasting punishment but the right- 
eous into life eternal. " The persons represented 
by ''ye'' are divided into two classes and one class 
is blessed with a welcome to the enjoyments of 
the third class called "these'' in the beginning of 
the paragraph, but the others are " cursed " etc. 

There are persons who figure and figure and fig- 
ure untill they figure away the greater part of the 



230 THE PAPER WHEEL, OK 

Bible ; when it suits their convenience they make 
a figure of a plain passage that is intended to be 
used as literal, but when it is figurative they make 
it literal. When a man does anything to repre- 
sent a burial and resurrection, it by no means fol- 
lows that it is a burial and resurrection in the 
sense that John saw it in Revelations. 

Others claim that death is the resurrection, since 
the body returns to the dust again and is convert- 
ed into other elements etc. But this is without 
the least semblance of truth, since Jesus was not 
resurrected till the third day, though he had been 
dead three days before. 

Not only so, but Paul fought a doctrine not so 
dangerous when he said some taught that the res- 
urrection was past already and thereby overthrew 
the faith of some. Besides, if death were also the 
resurrection ; it could not be a resurrection from 
the dead, but the correct interpretation of this 
would be the opposite of a resurrection of the 
dead because the dead would not be raised but 
would be a continuation of life. Then we con- 
clude that the Chrisitians of all nations will be 
raised at the second coming of Christ and those 
who are alive at that time that are Christians will 
be changed in the twinkling of an eye etc., and af- 
terwards the rest of the dead will be raised and 



THE EVOLUTION OF A SEED. 2eU 

judged. But the most important feature of this 
subject, is the fact that as a man lives in this life 
so his character will be in eternity. Reader are 
you a Christian? Have you lived such a life in 
this- world that gives you a longing to associate 
with the just and upright in the future? Who 
have been your companions here ? Are they such 
as you would like to be with in eternity? Did 
your mothers not tell you when a child to keep 
good company? Have you done it? Have you 
kept your vows? 

Would you not like to be a Christian now? 
How many years have you been in the service of 
sin? Suppose you live to a good age, how much 
more service can you give to the Lord for good 
than you have given to the enjoyment of your own 
passions? Think of these things. 

CONCLUSION. 

In conclusion I will state a proposition, and ar- 
gue it under five heads. 

The necessity of the resurrection of all men. 

1st, From a standpoint of science, it is claimed 
by scientists that all the elements of nature will 
be preserved, though they are susceptible of 
change, and all the forces employed in the realm 
of force, when they have served their purposes in 
which they are employed at the time of their dis- 



232 THE PAPER WHEEL, OR 

covery, will be conserved or preserved in the gi*eat 
force element, or matter as the case may be. We 
therefore reason, that if nature loses none of its 
material, or immaterial elements in its develop- 
ment and multiplied changes, that man is either 
matter or force and in either case must be restored 
to his highest form of force or matter, and since 
man continues to improve while here, it is that he 
has within him the possibilities of a higher exis- 
tence to which he is attaining, to which he will 
attain in point of intelligence if not of morality. 
None except those who do right will attain to the 
higher state of morality, while all will attain to 
the higher state intellectually. 

2nd, Standpoint of justice. Here, let me re- 
mark, is the strongest argument that can be made 
in favor of the resurrection ; one that can be made 
effective in the minds of all reasonable men. A 
man does a grave crime in this world ; he hides it ; 
lives on to a good old age, and hardens himself to 
it and finally dies without rectifying the wrong. 
Where is the justice administered? It is not done 
here. You say; His conscience has suffered 
enough for it. I tell you it is false ! Every vio- 
lation of nature's laws is immediately visited with 
the penalty. You eat too much, and you get sick 
immediately sls a penalty. 



THl^: EVOLUTION OF A SEED. :i83 

3rd, Standpoint of happiness; Man does not 
attain to that degree of happiness here, and there- 
fore as the punishment of unatoned guilt will 
have to be meted out in a future age ; so the hap- 
piness of a righteous life is reserved to a future 
life. 

4th, Standpoint of the Bible. The Bible teaches 
it abundantly. 

5th, Standpoint of the honor and glory of God. 
As the punishment of the wicked in the future 
will be necessary to vindicate the justice and honor 
of God ; so the salvation and happiness of the 
righteous is necessary for the same. 



THE END. 



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